BULLETIN   OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   WISCONSIN 

Economics,  Political  Science,  and  History  Series,  Vol.  i.  No.  3,  pp.  379-563. 


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THE  PROVINCE  OF   QUEBEC   AND  THE  EARLY 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 


A  STUDY    IN   ENGLISH-AMERICAN  COLONIAL  HISTORY 


BV 


VICTOR  COFFIN,  Ph.  D. 

Asshlfinf  I'ro/cssor  of  ICtnopean  Hislor/j  in  llic  Univcrsit//  0/  Visco)  sin 


PUBLISHED   BY   AITI  HORITY   OF   LAW   AND   WITH  THE   APPROVAL   OF 
THE   REGENTS   OF  THE   UNIVERSITY 


MADISON,  WIS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 

June,  1896 


PBICE  75  CENTS 


COFFIN.     V. 


61552 


PREFACE. 


The  present  study  was  undertaken  as  one  in  English  co- 
lonial history,  and  my  first  thought  was  closely  to  investi- 
gate governmental  conditions  in  those  parts  of  North 
America  that  did  not  join  in  the  movement  of  revolt,  not 
only  just  before  and  during  the  War  of  Independence,  but 
also  for  such  a  period  beyond  that  struggle  as  might  show 
its  more  immediate  etfects  on  English  colonial  policy.  The 
claims  of  other  work  have  required  the  abandonment  of  the 
greater  part  of  this  undertaking,  and  the  present  publica- 
tion deals  only  with  the  Province  of  Quebec,  from  its 
acquisition  in  17G0  down  into  the  Revolution.  As  an  insti- 
tutional study  the  investigation  ends  with  the  Parliament- 
ary settlement  of  the  constitution  of  the  province  by  the 
Quebec  Act  of  1774;  but  as  a  contribution  to  the  history  of 
the  American  revolution  it  has  gone  far  enough  into  the 
first  years  of  the  war  to  show  the  main  connections  of  Can- 
ada with  that  event.  These  connections  seemed  to  otter  an 
important  and  unexplored  field  of  investigation,  and  have 
therefore  been  emphasized  to  a  degree  not  originally  in- 
tended. On  both  sides  of  my  work  —  institutional  and  revo- 
lutionary,—  the  Quebec  Act  becomes  the  central  point. 

With  regard  to  the   institutional  a.spect  I  have  kept  in 

Imind,  not  only  the  ordinary  tasks  of  goveimment,  but  also 

the  rarer  and   more   difficult   problem   of  the  grafting  of 

[English  governmental  ideas  on  an  alien  society.  The  effort 

|to  contribute  to  American   revolutionary  history  has  been 

guided  in  the  first  instance  by  the  idea  of  tracing,  through 
the  critical  years  immediately  preceding  the  outbreak,  the 

rearing  of  the  Imi^erial  government  in  an  obscure  corner 

iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

where  a  freer  hand  was  given  to  it  tlian  elsewhere;  later 
there  are  encountered  the  obscure  and  important  questions 
connected  v/ith  the  general  colonial  bearing  of  the  Quebec 
Act,  with  its  special  influence  on  the  early  revolutionary 
struggle,  and  with  the  attitude  of  the  Canadians  toward 
that  event.  On  these  latter  points  I  have  been  obliged, 
though  entering  upon  the  investigation  without  bias  or 
controversial  intent,  to  present  my  results  in  more  or  less 
of  a  controversial  style  and  to  go  somewhat  largely  into 
the  evidence.  For  in  regard  to  them  I  am  strongly  at 
variance  with  the  hitherto  prevailing  opinions;  being 
forced  to  conclude  both  that  the  provisions  of  the  Quebec 
Act  were  neither  occasioned  nor  appreciably  affected  by 
conditions  in  the  other  colonies,  and  that,  far  from  being 
effectual  in  keeping  the  mass  of  the  Canadians  loyal  to  the 
British  connection,  the  measure  had  a  strong  influence  in 
precisely  the  opposite  direction.  The  Canadians  were  not 
kept  loyal,  and  Canada  was  preserved  at  this  crisis  to  the 
British  Empire  through  the  vigor  and  ability  of  its  British 
defenders,  and  through  the  mismanagement  of  their  cause 
on  the  part  of  the  revolutionists.  As  to  the  hitherto 
accepted  belief  with  regard  to  the  origin  and  aims  of  the 
Act,  I  need  direct  attention  only  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  other  utterances  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  to  the  almost  unvarying  statements  of  Amer- 
ican historians  ever  since,  The  belief  in  its  beneficial 
influence  in  Quebec  has  been  nearly  as  uninterruptedly 
held;  even  by  those  who  admit  its  disastrous  influence 
on  the  course  of  events  in  the  other  colonies,  it  has 
been  constantly  regarded  as  a  chef-iVoeuvre  of  political 
wisdom  and  humanity.'     With  this  view  I   have  no  sym- 

'  Locky,  tlinuKli  layiiit;  strnss  upon  its  cUstastofulness  to  the  other  colonies,  speaks  of 
it  as  especially  important  in  the  history  of  reliKious  liberty,  and  as  the  result  of  the 
government  havinK  resolved,  "  as  the  event  showed  very  wisely,  that  they  would  not 
subvert  the  ancient  laws  of  the  Province,  or  introduce  into  them  tlie  democratic  system 
wliicli  existed  in  NowEnRland."  illistorn  of  Eniilantl  in  the  Eighteenth  Centur)f,  III, 
a99 ).    For  modern  Canadian  expressions  of  similar  views,  as  well  as  for  asse verrations  con- 


PREFACE.  V 

pathy,  and  I  have  steadily  combated  it  in  the  convic- 
tion that  tht;  Quebec  Act  is  really  one  of  the  most  unwise 
and  disastrous  measures  in  English  Colonial  history.  It 
will  be  shown  below  that  it  was  founded  on  the  miscon- 
ceptions and  false  information  of  the  Provincial  officials; 
that  though  it  secured  the  loyal  support  of  those  classes 
in  Canada, —  the  clergy  and  the  noblesse, —  whose  influence 
had  been  represented  as  all  important,  at  the  critical  junc- 
ture this  proved  a  matter  of  small  moment.  For  the  noblesse 
were  found  to  have  no  influence,  and  that  of  the  clergy  was 
found  in  main  measure  paralyzed  by  the  provision  which  had 
again  laid  on  the  people  the  burden  of  compulsory  tithes. 
Without  the  Act  the  old  ruling  classes,  there  is  everj'  reason 
to  believe,  would  have  taken  precisely  the  same  attitude, 
and  the  people  would  not  have  been  exposed  to  th'  se  influ- 
ences which  ranged  them  on  the  side  of  the  invader. 
Apart  from  Canadian  affairs,  the  disastrous  effect  of  the 
measure  on  public  feeling  in  the  older  provinces  must  be 
strongly  considered  in  any  estimate  as  to  its  expediency. 
Judgment  as  to  the  general  political  wisdom,  in  distinction 
from  the  expediency,  of  this  settlement  of  the  constitution 
(and  as  it  proved,  largely  of  the  history),  of  Quebec,  will  de- 
pend mainly  on  the  view  taken  of  certain  general  political 
facts  and  problems  connected  with  the  later  history  of  Brit- 
ish North  America;  aspects  which  I  revert  to  more  specially 
in  my  conclusion.  A  factor  in  the  decision  must,  however, 
be  the  opinion  held  of  the  character  and  spirit  of  the  admin- 
istration to  which  that  settlement  was  immediately  due. 
An  examination  of  tne  antecedents  of  the  Act  will  indeed, 
I  think,  establish  the  conviction  that  the  main  desire  of  the 
authors  of  the  measure  was   to  further  the  security  and 

cerninK  the  unshaken  loyalty  of  the  French  CanaAianSfBeeW&tson,  Constitutional  His 
tory  of  Canada;  Lareau,  Hist.  Irroit  Canadien:  Ashley,  Lectures  on  Canadiayi  Consti- 
tutional History ;  Bourinot,  VarUamentary  Procedure  and  Practice  in  Canada.  Mr. 
Kingsford,  the  latest  and  bestof  Canadian  historians,  while  admitting  the  disaffection 
of  the  Canadians  at  the  beRinnini;  of  the  war,  represents  it  as  only  momentary,  an  d 
warmly  defends  the  policy,  expediency,  and  success  of  the  Act. 


Vl  PREFACE. 

prosperity  of  the  Province  and  fulfill  treaty  obligations 
toward  the  French  Canadians,  and  will  show  that  there  is 
practically  no  evidence  of  more  insidious  aims  with  re- 
gard to  colonial  affairs  in  general.  But  it  will  also  appear 
that  the  step  was  accompanied  by  manifestations  of  an  ar- 
bitrary policy,  and  that  it  was  taken  at  a  moment  when  its 
authors  were  exhibiting  in  other  ways  real  evidences  of 
hostility  to  the  free  spirit  of  American  self-government.  It 
would  be  surprising  indeed  to  find  a  high  degree  of  wisdom 
and  enlightenment  displayed  in  any  colonial  measure  that 
emanated  from  the  ministry  of  "Lord  North.  The  careful  and 
candid  student  will  on  the  whole,  I  think,  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  though  there  are  in  the  annals  of  that  minis- 
try many  more  discreditable  achievements  than  the  Quebec 
Act,  no  single  step  taken  by  it  has  been  more  politically 
disastrous  than  that  which,  beside  increasing  the  colonial 
difficulties  of  the  moment,  is  mainly  resjwnsible  for  the 
continued  burdening  of  modern  Canadian  life  with  a  stead- 
ily growing  problem  of  national  divergence. 

My  sources  of  information  are  stated  in  detail  in  Appendix 
II.  The  main  study  is  based  almost  entirely  on  the  manu- 
script copies  of  British  State  Papers  in  the  Canadian  Ar- 
chives (the more  important  ones  being  also  examined  in  the 
originals  or  original  duplicates  of  the  London  Colonial  and 
Record  offices) ;  though  I  have  used  with  profit  all  the  later 
material  that  was  available,  I  am  not  conscious  of  any  such 
obligations  as  would  call  for  more  special  notice  than  has 
been  given  throughout  in  my  notes.  An  exception  how- 
ever must  be  made  in  regard  to  Dr.  William  Kingsford's 
History  of  Ganadu,  now  in  course  of  publication.  The  high 
value  of  Dr.  Kingsford's  book  has  been  already  fully  recog- 
nized, and  I  very  heartily  concur  in  the  recognition.  My 
own  main  work  on  the  period  he  has  already  covered  has 
been  done  indeed  in  entire  independence,  and  our  conclu- 
sions frequently  differ;  but  still  my  more  intensive  investi- 
gation owes  a  great  deal  to  his  more  general   and   most 


PREFACE.  VU 

suggestive  views.  The  material  used  for  the  general  West- 
ern aspects  of  this  study  has  been  found  mainly  in  the  in- 
valuable library  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 
With  regard  to  personal  assistance,  I  am  heavily  indebted  to 
Dr.  Douglas  Brymner,  the  well-known  Canadian  Archivist, 
and  to  the  late  Professor  Herbert  Tuttle  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Brymner  has  not  only  facilitated,in  every  way 
my  use  of  both  the  Canadian  and  the  English  Archives, 
but  has  supplemented  this  assistance  by  the  steady  help 
of  that  wide  and  accurate  knowledge  and  keen  judgment  to 
which  American  historical  scholarship  already  owes  so 
much.  In  Professor  Tuttle's  seminary  the  study  was  begun 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  post-graduate  work;  that  early 
stage  of  it  owes  a  great  deal  to  his  searching  and  sugges- 
tive criticism,  as  does  its  whole  progress  to  the  abiding  in- 
spiration of  his  own  work  and  methods.  I  wish  also  to  ex- 
press my  obligation  to  Professor  Frederick  J.  Turner,  the 
Editor  of  this  series,  for  very  helpful  discussion  on  vari- 
ous points,  and  for  carfefui  and  suggestive  proof-reading 
throughout. 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAOB. 

English  estciblishment  in  Quebec 275 

The  "  Military  Rule,"  1760-4 275 

Outline  of  constitutional  history,  1764-91 277 

Abstract  of  Quebec  Act,  1774 278 

Material  conditions,  1760-74 278 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   FRENCH    CANADIANS. 

A.     Ocneral, 

Official  characterizations 282 

Difficulty  as  to  such  statements 283 

General  religious  petitions,  1764 284 

Relations  between  seigneur  and  habitant 285 

Pacific  attitude  of  the  people 286 

Emigration  to  France 287 

Popular  perception  of  changed  conditions 288 

Attitude  toward  specific  matters 290 

Watchfulness  of  officials 291 

Absence  of  popular  movements 292 

Elements  of  political  education 293 

Evidence  as  to  political  progress 294 

The  bourgeoisie  295 

B.     The  Noblesse  and  the  Clergy. 

General  official  statements  as  to  Noblesse 297 

Political  manifestations;  of  noblesse 298 

The  Clergy  in  the  "  Military  Period  " 299 

Satisfactory  conduct  of  Clergy  throuerliout 301 


X  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BRITISH  SETTLERS. 

A.    Numbers,  Origin,  Occupations,  Character. 

PAGE. 

Numbers 303 

Birth  and  early  life 303 

Americans  and  non-Amcriians 304 

Occupied  mainly  in  trade 305 

Connection  with  the  land 306 

Antagonism  to  of  Provincial  executive 306 

As  shown  in  general  official  reports 307 

Injustice  of  this  attitude 309 

B.    Political  Attitude. 

Prevalence  of  the  American  spirit 309 

Apparently  intolerant  attitude 310 

The  two  sections  of  the  party 310 

The  Grand  Jury  of  1764 311 

Petition  against  Murray,  1765 313 

Opposition  to  customs  duties 313 

The  general  ground  of  this 314 

The  Province  and  the  Stamp  Act 316 

Commercial  memorials.  1770 318 

Petitions  for  an  Assembly,  1768-74 318 

The  British  party  and  the  Civil  law 320 

C.    Relations  with  the  French  Canadians. 

Hostility  to  the  noblesse 321 

Increasing  influence  with  people 322 

Traces  of  this 323 

No  evidence  of  irreconcilable  conditions 324 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PROVINCIAL   GOVERNMENT. 

A.     General  Status. 

A  Crown  Colony  without  an  Assembly 326 

Viewed  from  standpoint  of  Constitutional  legist 326 

Proclamation  of  1763  the  constitutional  basis 328 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE, 

Unconstitutionality  of  the  actual  government  1764-74 328 

Parallel  case  in  Nova  Scotia,  1749-55 329 

Instructions  to  Quebec  Governors 330 

Provincial  legislation  null  and  void 331 

Difficulty  as  to  laws  legally  subsisting 331 

Examination  of  status  of  English  civil  law 332 

Bearing  of  Proclamation  of  1763 333 

B.  General  AdminiHtration. 

The  position  of  the  Governor 337 

Relation  between  Governor  and  Council 338 

The  Council 339 

Legislation  of  the  period 341 

Executive  work  of  Governor  and  Council 343 

Judicial  work  of  Governor  and  Council 343 

C,  Judiciari/.     Civil  Service. 

Organization  of  Provincial  judiciary 344 

Recognition  of  French  conditions 346 

Important  change  of  1770 347 

Laws  actually  in  use 348 

Confusion  and  difficulty  on  point 349 

Continued  use  of  French  law 352 

Slight  resort  of  people  to  courts 354 

Injury  from  confusion  and  uncertainty 355 

Burdensome  jjrocedure 356 

Abuses  of  Civil  Service 357 

Patent  offices  and  fees 358 

I).    J^i  nances. 

Dependent  financial  position  of  Province 360 

Possible  sources  of  revenue 361 

Customs  duties 502 

Expenditures 363 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THK   SPIRIT   AND   DEVELOPMENT   OF   ADMINISTRATION. 

Scope  of  the  enquiry 365 


XU  TABLE    OE  CONTENTS. 

A.     The  Provincial  Oovernors. 

PAQE. 

Unusuivl  importance  of  offii  u 365 

Governor  Murray 366 

Policy  of  Murray's  adminiytration 368 

Governor  Uarlcton 369 

Policy  of  Carleton's  administration 371 

Errors  common  to  both  governors 372 

Carleton's  attitude  toward  French 373 

The  importance  of  his  views  in  this  regard 375 

Ji.     The  I  III  pr  rial  Oj^f-r. 

Imperial  attitude  toward  French  and  English 375 

Prejudice  against  the  English  party 378 

General  policy  of  Imperial  executive 380 

As  shown  in  the  fundamental  documents 380 

The  commission  of  Governor  Murray 381 

As  compared  with  a  Nova  Scotian  one  (1749) 382 

With  a  New  York  one  (1754) 383 

Bearing  of  the  divergences 384 

Commissions  and  Instructions  of  Carleton 384 

Official  relations  of   Imperiafand  Provincial  authorities (Note)  386 

Special  interpositions  of  Imperial  executive 386 

In  regard  to  legislation 387 

Executive  interferences 388 

Hillsborough  and  niter-provincial  Congresses 389 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   QUEBEC   ACT,  —  ITS   ORKilNS   AND   AIMS. 

Special  interest  of  the  Act 391 

The  different  aspects  of  its  importance 391 

A,    Preliminaries. 

Long  delay  of  the  settlemen*^  of  the  government 391 

Instability  of  English  administrations,  1760-70 392 

General  references  to  Canadian  affairs,  1764-74 393 

Appearance  of  the  Quebec  Bill.  May  2,  1774 394 

The  Commons'  Debates  on  Quebec  Bill 395 

Small  attendance  in  House , 397 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS.  XUl 

B.    History  of  Main  Provisions. 

a.  Boundaries. 

PAOE, 

Importance  of  this  feature  as  affecting  general  Western  history 398 

Modern  views  in  regard  to  it 398 

The  idea  of  change  in  British  policy,  1760-3 399 

Slightness  of  evidence  produced  therefor  400 

Pertinent  circumstances  attending  treaty  of  Paris,  1763 400 

Political  writing  and  the  new  acquisitions 401 

Arguments  used  in  Parliamentary  debates 403 

Bancroft  and  Lecky  on  the  Treaty 404 

The  Proclamation  of  October,  176;^ 405 

Implied  duplicity  of  its  language 406 

Profession  of  solicitude  for  Indians 406 

Real  meaning  of  this 407 

Causes  for  anxiety  about  Indians 408 

Previous  Imperial  attitude  on  matter 409 

Proclamation  of  1703  only  the  culmination  of  this 411 

The  special  question  as  to  limits  of  Canatla 411 

Absence  of  definite  idea  of  limits  at  peace 412 

Preliminary  consideration  of  matter 413 

Proclamation  in  this  regard  only  a  partial  settlement 415 

Disorganization  of  fur-trade  in  delay  of  full  provision 416 

Steady  increase  of  injury  and  danger 417 

Natural  result  the  extension  of  Quebec 419 

Discussion  of  matter  in  Quebec  Act  Debates 420 

Statements  of  Wedderbourne  and  Lyttleton 420 

Simply  expressions  of  old  colonial  policy 423 

As  is  also  the  whole  treatment  of  matter 423 

The  steady  attitude  of  the  Board  of  Trade 424 

Expression  of  it  in  1768 424 

Franklin  and  Hillsborough  on  this 426 

"  Vandalia  "  grant  in  1772  no  disproof  of  this 426 

For  this  region  on  ilifferent  basis 427 

As  shown  by  Rejjorts  of  1768  and  1772 428 

Old  policy  still  existing  north  of  Ohio 429 

William  Knox  on  the  point 429 

Disastrous  character  of  this  Western  policy 431 

b.  Religion. 

Lecky  and  Continental  Congress  on  this  provision 439 

Government  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Canada 433 


XIV  TABLE    OP  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Real  import  of  the  Treaty  provision 434 

Concessions  in  regard  to  the  Bishop 435 

Instructions  to  Carleton,  1768 437 

Exact  force  of  provisions  of  1774. . ; 438 

No  real  Establishment  of  Roman  Catholic  Church 439 

As  shown  by  Carleton 's  Instructions,  1775 439 

Provisions  of  these  in  favor  of  Church  of  England  440 

Discussion  of  subject  in  Commons,  1774 441 

Position  of  Roman  Catholic  Charch  but  slightly  improved 442 

Treatment  of  Church  in  Island  of  Granada,  1763-8 444 

Government  influenced  mainly  by  Treaty  obligations 446 

As  shown  Vjv  illiberality  elsewhere 447 

Liberal  conduct  toward  Church  throughout  period 447 

Attitude  toward  regular  clergy 449 

c.     CI  I'll  L<(w. 

Establishment  of  French  law,  1774 450 

But  English  law  not  properly  "  abolished." 451 

Development  of  policy  in  this  matter,  176.3-74 451 

Carleton's  vigorous  views 455 

Reports  of  Provincial  officials 456 

Important  change  in  regard  to  land  granting,  1771 457 

Reasons  for  and  meaning  of  this 458 

The  legal  provision  in  the  Commons,  1774 460 

Instructions  to  Carleton ,  1775 461 

d.  Lcyhlafive  Asxrmhli/. 

Arbitrary  appearance  of  denial  of  this 463 

Board  of  Trade  on,  in  1765 463 

Presumption  of  Assembly  in  later  Instructions 464 

Rep<»rt  of  Wedderbourne,  1772 465 

Discussion  of  matter  by  Maseres,  1773 467 

The  import  of  his  views 468 

Debate  in  Commons,   1774 469 

No  evidence  of  sinister  design 471 

Absence  of  such  evidence  with  regard  to  Act  throughout 472 

But  no  reasons  for  careful  concealment 472 

Some  reason  for  open  avowal 472 


■^"s 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS.  XV 


C.    Appltcaiion  of  ihc  Act. 

PAGE. 


New  Instructions  to  Governor,  1775 473 

New  development  in  regard  to  council 474 

Checked  by  home  government 475 

Failure  of  Act  to  refor'a  official  abuses 477 

Continued  confusion  and  uncertainty  in  law 478 

Anarchy  in  administration  of  law,  1775-91 478 

Act  therefore  does  not  advance  good  government 479 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  QUEBEC  ACT  AND  THE  AMEUICAN  REVOLUTION. 

A,     The  Revolution  in  the  Province  of  Quehee. 

No  ground  for  laudation  of  policjj  of  Act 480 

For  not  intended  as  this  would  imply 480 

And  did  not  protluce  the  effects  supjiosed 481 

Disastrous  influence  on  general  colonial  troubles 481 

Effect  on  English  party  in  Quebec 482 

Carleton's  report  of  seditious  movementp,  November,  1774 483 

Correspondence  with  Boston  Committee 484 

Final  split  in  the  English  jiarty 485 

Tories  and  Revolutionists 485 

Latter  a  small  element 486 

Conduct  of  former  throughout  war 487 

The  Quebec  Act  and  the  French  Canadians 487 

No  ground  to  expect  favorable  results  on  latter 488 

Ground  for  expecting  unfavorable  ones 489 

Evidence  as  to  alienating  effects J90 

Difficulty  as  to  early  reports 492 

Influence  of  the  English  malcontents 493 

Fears  of  the  French  Canadian  leaders 493 

Increase  of  popular  hostility  to  Act 494 

First  shown  clearly  in  American  invasion 495 

Early  at^ps  of  Congress  concerning  Canada 495 

The  mission  of  John  Brown 496 

The  first  military  operations  (May,  1775) 496 

Carleton  attemps  to  raise  militia 497 

His  complete  failure 497 

Proclaims  Martial  Law  (June  9,  1775) 498 


XVI  TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Official  reports  as  to  continued  hostile  attitude  of  people 498 

Evidence  of  Chief-Justice  Hey  and  M.  Bjuleau 500 

Evidence  from  the  Continental  forces 501 

Inadequacy  of  some  contemporary  reflections 504 

Futility  of  efforts  of  the  clergy 505 

Defection  of  Canadians  not  merely  momentary 506 

As  shown  by  later  careful  (official  reports 507 

Widespread  nature  of  the  disaffection 510 

Statistics  as  to  Canadians  on  British  side 510 

Attitude  of  the  hoirrr/roiHic 511 

Effect  of  the  French-American  alliance 512 

Courses  open  to  noblesse  and  clergy 512 

Quebec  Act  wholly  needless  and  largely  injurious 513 

B.     The  Failure  of  the  American  Expeditions. 

Connection  of  this  enquiry  with  previous  statements 513 

No  effective  use  made  of  Canadian  partiality 514 

Conduct  of  invaders  tends  to  alienate  Canadians 514 

Inadequacy  of  general  causes  assigned  for  failure 514 

Colonial  authorities  as  to  importance  of  Canada 515 

Real  place  of  the  "  hard  money  "  difficulty 516 

Canadians  laid  under  contribution 517 

Continental  statements  as  to  ill-treatment  of 518 

General  character  and  conduct  t)f  Continental  troops 521 

Statements  of  commanders 522 

Testimony  from  the  ranks 523 

Dangerous  influence  of  Carleton  upon  latter 525 

The  last  of  the  expedition 526 

General  reflections  upon  it 527 

What  might  have  been  achieved 528 


CONCLUSION. 

Relations  of  study  to  American  Revolution 529 

Purpose  of  examination  of  the  origins  of  Quebec  Act 530 

Objection  with  regard  to  the  earlier  colonial  troubles 530 

Consideration  of  Engli.sh  ministerial  conditions,  1764-70 531 

Whig  party  committed  to  Quebec  Act  provisions 532 

The  study  with  regard  to  later  Canadian  history 533 

Misfortunes  entailed  by  act 533 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS.  Xvii 

PAGE, 

What  should  have  been  done  in  1774 534 

Illustration  from  case  of  Louisiana 534 

Considerations  as  to  early  English  settlement 535 

Loyalists  kept  out  by  the  Quebec  Act 537 

The  direct  developments  from  the  Act 538 

Lord  Durham's  Report  in  1839 539 

Opinions  as  to  Anglicizing  of  Quebec 540 

The  development  that  might  have  been  secured 542 


APPENDIX  I. 

The  Quebec  Act,  1774 544-52 

The  Quebec  Revenue  Act,  1774 552-57 


APPENDIX  II. 

Authorities 558-5C2 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  QUEBEC   AND  THE    EARLY 
AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 


INTRODUCTION. 


What  was  known  under  the  French  as  Canada  or  New 
Franco  came  into  English  possession  through  the  capitula- 
tion of  Montreal,  September  8,  1760,  and  was  finally  ceded 
to  England  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  February  10,  1763, 
closing  the  Seven  Years'  War.  As  thus  ceded,  no  definite 
limits  were  assigned  to  "  Canada,  with  all  its  dependencies, " 
the  only  boundary  line  mentioned  in  regard  to  it  being  the 
Mississippi  river.  The  British  government  was  thus  given 
a  free  hand  in  defining  its  extent,  subject  to  the  fixed 
boundaries  and  well-established  claims  of  the  adjacent 
colonies,  to  the  indefinite  possessions  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and.  more  or  less,  to  the  conceptions  of  the  Cana- 
dians themselves.  Many  causes  intervened  to  delay  a 
final  settlement  of  the  matter  of  boundaries,  and  mean- 
while, by  the  Royal  Proclamation  of  October  7,  176?.,  the 
new  Province  was  defined  so  as  to  embrace,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, a  rectangular  district  of  not  more  than  100,000  square 
miles,  extending  along  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
river  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kiver  St.  John  to  the  point 
where  the  St.  Lawrence  is  intersected  by  the  45th  degree 
of  north  latitude. 

From  the  date  of  the  capitulation  till  August  10, 1764,  the 
new  acquisition  was  governed  by  the  commanders  of  the 


27G  HUIiLETlN  HF  THK   UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

English  forces  in  occux>ation,  and  the  period  is  therefore 
known  as  that  of  the  Military  Rule.  The  investigation  of 
political  conditions  in  the  Province  does  not  necessarily 
have  much  to  do  with  this  preliminary  suspension  of  civil 
government;  but  a  brief  statement  of  the  general  character 
of  the  Military  Rule  is  necessary  for  several  reasons,  es- 
pecially to  show  what  had  been  the  earliest  experience  of 
the  French  Canadians  under  British  government,  and  with 
what  anticipations  they  were  likely  to  view  its  permanent 
establishment.  It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the  military 
character  of  the  government,  so  far  as  felt  by  the  people 
in  oi'dinary  affairs,  was  to  a  large  extent  merely  nominal. 
The  final  authority  of  course  resided  in  the  military  arm, 
and  the  courts  established  for  the  administration  of  justice 
were  of  a  military  form;  but  these  courts  were  not 
governed  by  the  princii)les  of  martial  law,  at  least  in 
matters  where  the  old  French  law  or  custom  could  be  dis- 
covered or  applied.  French  Canadians  had  a  share  in  their 
administration,'  while  such  instruments  of  local  govern- 
ment as  existed  under  the  French  seem  to  have  been 
largely  retained.-  All  contemporary  testimony  from  the 
French  Canadians  is  unmistakeable  in  its  appreciation  of 
the  justice  and  humanity  of  the  general  proceedings  of  the 
military,  and  of  the  hopes  the  people  had  thus  acquired  for 
the  future.'  The  official  statements  throughout  the  period 
as  to  the  very  satisfactory  conduct  of  the  French  Cana- 
dians must  be  admitted  to  show  a  large  degree  of  at  least 
external  harmony.  We  may  conclude  therefore  that  the 
conduct  of  the  British  authorities  during  this  difficult  time 

I  See  Liireaii,  Hist,  ric  ilruit  Canadian,  II,  S7  For  evidpijce  of  fho  satisfaction  of  the 
French  with  these  courts  i-ee  refurcnce  to  ix-titious  for  their  retention.  (Cauadian 
Archives,  Q.  2.  p.27H). 

"  See  as  to  continuance  of  the  oflice  and  functions  of  the  captains  of  militia.  Or- 
dinance conceminff  sale  of  fire  wood,  Nov.  27,  1765,  Vol.  of  Ordinances  in  Can.  Arcliives, 

' See  liriwrt  ('(iiKidiaii  A rch . ,  18S8,  p.  19.  See  also  iV.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  X., llliS, 
for  a  French  memoir  (17G;S)  concernini?  the  possibility  of  exciting  a  rebellion  in  Canada. 
It  speaks  of  the  peoi)le  having  been  further  drawn  from  their  allegiance  to  France  by 
the  "mild  regime  of  the  Englisli,  the  latter  in  their  policy  having  neglected  nothing  to 
expedite  the  return  of  that  comfort  and  liberty"  formerly  enjoyed. 


COFFIN — THE   I'ROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7G.  277 

had  been  such  as  to  win  in  large  degree  the  confidence  of 
the  conquered  people,  and  that  civil  government  was  estab- 
lished in  1764  under  favorable  auspices. 

It  was  on    the   model   of  the  other  Crown  Colonies  in 
Amc  ica  that  British  civil  government  was  introduced  on 
August  10,  1704,  in  pursuance  of  the  Proclamation  of  Octo- 
ber 7,    17(53,    and  under    a    commission   ajipointing    Gen. 
James    Murray,    one    of    the    resident    military    officers, 
"  Captain-General  and  Governor-in-Chief  in  and   over  our 
Province  of  Quebec."     Under    this   official    and    his   suc- 
cessor,   Col.    Guy    Carleton,    government    was  conducted 
throughout  the  whole  period  covered  by  my  investigation. 
Until  1775  the  Proclamation  of  17G3,  a  purely  executive  act, 
continued    to    form  the  basis    of  administration;    for  the 
Quebec  Act,  passed  May,  1774,  and  going  into  force  one 
year  later,  was  the  first  interference  of  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament in  Canadian  affairs.     This  remained  the  constitution 
of  Canada  from  1775  to  1791,  at  which  latter  date  its  provis- 
ions,   so   far    as   they    affected  the  western   part  of    the 
country,  then  being  settled  by  the  United  Empire  Loyal- 
ists  and  now  known  as  the  Province  of   Ontario,    were 
repealed  by  the   Constitytkmal  Act.     As  affecting  however 
the  settled  regions  acquired  from  the  French  and  distinct- 
ively known  after  1791  as  Lower  Canada,  the  Quebec  Act, 
in  its  main  provisions,  still  continues  in  force.     It  has  kept 
alive  in  British  North  America  a  French  nation,  never  so 
united  or  self-conscious  as  at  the  present  time.     One  of  the 
main  objects  of  this  inquiry  is  to  investigate  closely  the 
conditions  which  led  to  this  Act,  and  the  state  of  govern- 
ment which  it  was  intended  to  amend,  with  reference  to 
the  general  wisdom  and  expediency  of  the  measure  and  to 
its  special  connections  with  the  American  Revolution. 

As  I  must  constantly  anticipate  in  my  references  to  the 
Quebec  Act  it  will  b?  well  perhaps  to  introduce  here  a 
short  statement  of  its  main  provisions.'  With  the  accom- 
panying Revenue  Act  it  enacted : 


1  See  App.  I.  for  full  reprint. 


278  nULLBTlN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  (»K  WISCONSIN. 

1.  That  tho  province  of  Quobec  should  bo  extended  to  in- 
clude all  tho  territory  wiiich  the  French  had  been  supposed 
to  lay  claim  to  under  the  name  of  Canada,  i.  e.,  on  the  east 
to  Labrador,  on  the  west  to  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana 
and  tlio  Hudson  Bay  C(jm]iany's  territory,  and  on  the  south 
to  tho  boundaries  of  liie  otlior  provinces  and  tlu?  Ohio;  in- 
cluding; therefore  to  the  southwest  and  west  tlie  regions 
which  now  form  tlie  states  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Il- 
linois, Wisconsin,  and  part  of  Minnesota. 

2.  That  all  previous  governmental  provisions  in  regard 
to  Quebec  as  before  constituted  or  to  any  {)art  of  the  added 
territory  should  be  annulled,  and  that  the  Provincial  gov- 
ernment should  for  the  future  consist  of  a  governor  and 
council,  both  appointed  by  tho  king,  and  together  invested 
■with  a  strictly  limited  legislative  and  money  power.  That 
a  revenue  .should  be  provided  for  the  province  by  customs 
duties  imposed  by  the  Imperial  government,  said  revenue 
being  entirely  at  the  disposition  of  the  Imperial  authorities. 

3.  That  full  toleration  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
should  exist  in  the  province,  including  the  removal  of  all 
disabilities  by  test  oaths;  and  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
should  "  hold,  receive  and  enjoy "  its  accustomed  dues  and 
rights  with  respect  to  its  own  adherents. 

4.  That  though  the  English  criminal  law  should  continue 
to  prevail,  the  inhabitants  should  "hold  and  enjoy  their 
property  and  possessions,  together  with  all  customs  and 
usages  relating  thereto,  and  all  others  their  civil  rights," 
according  to  the  ancient  laws  and  customs  of  Canada; 
these  laws  and  customs  to  remain  in  exclusive  possession 
until  altered  by  provincial  ordinances. 

It  may  readily  be  imagined  that  Canada  emerged  from 
the  final  struggle  of  French  and  English  in  no  very  pros- 
perous condition.  Authorities  agree  in  their  doleful 
descriptions  of  the  greatly  weakened  and  almost  destitute 
state  of  the  colony  in  1759,  on  the  eve  of  the  great  contest; 
and  the  eiforts  of  the  two  following  years  still  further  re- 
duced it.  During  the  first  or  military  stage  of  the  British 
occupation  we  meet  with  frequent  official  references  to  the 
danger  of  famine,  and  the  dependence  of  the  people  on  the 
government.  But  this  state  was  not  of  long  duration. 
When  civil  government  is  established,  August,  1764,  the 
crisis  seems  past,  and  the  colony  may  be  said  to  have 
again  attained  the  position  it  had  held  on  the  eve  of  the 


COFFIN THE   PnOVINCE  OK  QUEUEC,    17()0-7(>.  279 

conquest.  The  new  blood  and  capital  that  had  been  intro- 
duced, together  with  the  unbroken  peace  of  four  years,  had 
stimulated  all  branches  of  industry  and  had  opened  the  way 
for  the  remarkublo  growth  that  is  clearly  traceable  down 
to  177').  The  iniiabitants  cultivated  their  lands  and  pursued 
the  Indian  trade  and  the  ti.sheries  in  peace  and  with  com- 
paratively little  molostation  from  the  new  state  of  things. 
Content  to  bo  left  alone,  they  concerned  themselves  little 
about  public  affairs,  and  it  is  not  till  177.' that  we  meet  with 
any  general  political  manifestations  on  their  part.  Har- 
vests steadily  increased;  the  fear  of  famine  died  away;  the 
fanciful  schemes  for  the  commercial  salvation  of  the 
province  which  we  meet  with  in  the  early  years  gradually 
disappeared.  Trade,  at  least  in  the  wholesale  and  foreign 
branches,  fell  into  the  hands  chiefly  of  the  small  but  enter- 
prising body  of  new  English-speaking  settlers  who,  at- 
tracted by  the  fur  trade  and  the  fisheries,  had  followed  in 
the  wake  of  the  conqueror;  and  it  soon  received  from  them 
a  very  notable  impulse.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil,  re- 
maining almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  French 
Canadians,  shared  more  slowly  in  the  general  improve- 
ment. The  old  French  methods  of  culture  had  always  been 
bad,  and  it  was  not  till  the  latter  part  of  the  French  regime 
that  the  country  had  produced  enough  for  its  own  sub- 
sistence; but  before  the  year  1770  a  considerable  quantity 
of  grain   was  being  exported.'     In  the  opening  up  of  new 

1  StrikiiiK  evidence  as  to  the  coin|)!irativpl,v  iHospiM-ous  condition  of  tlie  r»'opln  iu  the 
lattor  part  of  the  period  is  fiirnislicd  ia  scattonHl  refi-rcnctis  of  tiw.  -non"  observinK  revo- 
lutionists wlio  visit<>d  file  i)roviiice,  ITT'Hi.  Charles  Carn.ll  (Jouniid,  Maryland  Hist, 
Soc.  Papers,  187G,  p.  98),  writes  in  Way,  1770,  that  the  country  alontr  the  Sorel  "is  very 
populous,  the  villaKes  are  lar«e  and  neat,  and  joined  tocether  with  a  continued  ratiRe 
ofginjfle  houses,  chiefly  farmers;"  and  after  contrasting  the  prosiierxty  of  these  farmers 
with  the  pdverty  of  tlie  seisnenrs,  adds:  "It  is  conjectured  that  the  farmers  in  Canada 
cannot  bo  possessed  of  less  than  one  million  pounds  sterling  in  specie;  they  hoard  up 
tlieirmoney  to  porti<.n  tiioir  children ;  tliey  neitlier  let  it  out  at  interest  nor  expend  it 
in  the  purchase  of  lands."  The  writer  of  Henry's  Account  of  the  Cntiipaiijn  directed 
Bpecinl  attention  to  the  hatiilnnt,  and  testifies  to  his  economy  and  jirosperity.  "It 
seemed  to  me  that  the  Canadians  in  the  vicinage  of  Quebec  live  J  as  comfortably  in  gen  - 
eral  as  the  penerality  of  the  Pennsylvanians  did  at  that  time  iu  the  County  of  Lancas- 
ter."    (Albany,  1877,  p.  95.) 


280  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  TfUCO'SBlff. 

lands,  however,  very  little  progres"^  was  made  in  the  early 
years ;  not  indeed  until  the  old  Fre  Ai  form  of  grant  was 
reverted  to.'  Manufactures  were  primitive  and  unimpor- 
tant. The  policy  of  the  government  with  regard  to  them 
does  not  seem  to  have  differed  in  the  main  from  that  fol- 
lowed contemporaneously  in  the  other  colonies;  though 
there  are  evidences  of  more  enlightened  conduct  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  period.- 

The  growth  in  population   of  the  province  during  this 
period  cannot  be  very  accurately  stated,  but  a  comparison 
of  the  various  conflicting  estimates  with  general  data  leads 
to  conclusions  that  are  probably  not  much  astray.     A  con- 
siderable decrease  was  occasioned  by  the  removal  to  France, 
on  the  conquest,  of  most  of  the  official  and  a  large  part  of 
the  noble  and  commercial  classes;^  and  in  1762  the  official 
returns  give  a  total  of  65,633  for  the  settled  parts  of  the 
province.     Beyond  this  there  was  by  1775  a  scattered  pop- 
ulation   in   the    upper    Avestern    country    of   about    1,000 
families,  as  well  as  fishing  colonies  around  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.     The  growth  throughout  the  period  was  al- 
most entirely  a  natural  one.     Cramahe  writes  in  1778  that 
"fourteen  years'  expei'iences  have  proved  that  the  increase 
of  the  pi'ovince   must  depend  upon  its  own  population." 
But  the  French  Canadians  then  as  now  needed  no  outside 
assistance  in  this  matter,   and  it  is  probably  safe  to  esti- 
mate them  at  90,000  in  1775.     Higher  estimates,  (and  the 
contemporary    ones   of   Carleton  and   Maseres   are  much 
higher),*  are  manifestly  inaccurate  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  official  census  of  1784  asserts  a  total  of  only  113,012. 

The  population  from  the  beginning  was  divided  into  two 
well  defined  sections  of  very  unequal  strength;  (1)  the 
French  Canadians,  who  are  constantly  referred  to  in  the 
official  correspondence  as  the  "new  subjects,"  and  (2)  the 

I  Soo  bdlow, 

a  Soo  Can.  Aicli.,  Q.  5-2,  pi).  760,  Si9;  Q.  6,  p.  IS. 

'  MuiTuy  states  July  17,  1761,  that  tho  populatiou  was  thou  lO.tKX)  less  than  in  1759, 

<Evi(loiice  beforo  Conimous  in  Quebec  Act  debate,  Cavendish,  Hepovt. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17C0-7G.  281 

small  new  English-speaking  element,  designated  as  regu- 
larly as  the  "old  subjects.  "  These  sections,  in  their 
distinctive  features  and  activities,  will  be  later  considered 
separately.  Suffice  it  now  to  say  that  the  British  element 
was  almost  exclusively  a  trading  one,  and  that  but  a  very 
small  part  of  it  devoted  itself  to  agricultural  pursuits.  It 
had  been  attracted  to  the  province  by  the  fur  or  Indian 
trade,  and  we  shall  find  that  the  influence  on  the  fortunes 
of  the  colony  thus  early  exerted  from  this  quarter  was  des- 
tined to  be  of  the  utmost  iirportance  throughout  the  period. 


282  BTJLLETIN  OF  "HE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  FRENCH   CANADIANS. 

A.    General. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  possibilities  of  this  investi- 
gation to  present  any  close  character  study  of  the  French 
Canadian,  though  it  will  be  readily  conceded  that  some 
such  study  is  indispensable  to  the  proper  understanding  of 
the  conditions  under  which  we  must  consider  the  new  rule. 
For  such  a  picture  we  can,  however,  gotoParkman,  whose 
latest  sketches  bring  the  habitant  and  (jentilhomme  before  us 
as  the  English  conqueror  found  them;  the  former  a  loyal, 
ignorant,  easily-led,  but  somewhat  unstable  peasantry  of 
military  extraction  and  training,  with  a  decided  taste  for 
the  wild,  free  life  of  the  woods;  the  latter  an  entirely  mili- 
tary semi- nobility,  who  from  their  first  appearance  had  as  the 
basis  of  existence  the  Court  and  the  Camp,  and  who  were 
almost  as  poor  and  ignorant  and  politically  powerless  as 
the  habitant,  whom  up  to  this  time  they  had  found  a  docile 
follower,  and  of  whose  wild  and  hardy  life  they  had  been 
full  sharers.  In  less  romantic  but  not  less  pleasing  colors 
is  the  habitant  described  by  Governor  Murray  in  1762 
— "a  strong,  healthy  race,  plain  in  their  dress,  virtuous  in 
their  morals,  and  temperate  in  their  living;"  in  general 
entirely  ignorant  and  credulous,  they  had  been  preju- 
diced against  the  English,  but  nevertheless  had  lived  with 
the  troops  "in  a  harmony  unexampled  even  at  home;" 
and  needed  only  to  bo  reassured  on  the  subject  of  the 
preservation  of  their  religion  to  become  good  subjects.' 
Two  years  later  the  same  authority  writes  of  the  French 
Canadians  generally  as  "perhaps  the  bravest  and  best  race 
upon  the  globe,  a  race,  who,  could  they  be  indulged  with  a 

«  Qeneral  Kviiorl,  1762,  (Gun.  ArcL.,  B.  7,  p.  1). 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  283 

few  privileges  which  the  laws  of  England  deny  to  Roman 
Catholics  at  home,  would  soon  become  the  most  faithful 
and  useful  set  of  men  in  the  American  empire."'  And 
November,  1767,  Carleton  describes  them  as  comprising 
10,000  men  who  had  served  in  the  late  war,  "with  as  much 
valor,  with  more  zeal,  and  more  military  knowledge  for 
America  than  the  regular  troops  of  France  that  were 
joined  with  them."  Indeed,  this  military  origin  and  train- 
ing of  the  people  must  be  always  kept  in  mind  in 
estimating  their  attitude  and  the  causes  likely  to  influence 
them.  Easily  led,  they  were  by  no  means  timid  or  spirit- 
less. 

The  clearly  mai-ked  upper  class  sections  oi  the  French 
Canadian  population  —  the  noblesse  and  the  clergy  —  will  be 
considered  more  particularly  later;  for  though  small  in 
numbers  their  political  weight  was  very  great.  Meanwhile, 
I  shall  have  regard  to  general  features,  so  far  as  they  can 
be  discerned.  And  here  we  are  not  always  free  of  uncer- 
tainty; for  when  the  new  English  observers  speak  of  the 
"French  Canadians,"  or  the  "new  subjects,"  or  the  "peo- 
ple," in  a  general  way,  it  is  by  no  means  always  easy  to 
determine  how  much  worth  the  observation  has  as  a  gen- 
eral one,  or  to  what  extent  the  ob.?erver's  vision  is 
narrowed  by  special  conditions.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  most  of  the  representations  of  the  officials  as  to  the 
attitude  and  character  of  the  "new  subjects  '  are  really  ap- 
plicable only  to  the  small  section  of  them  that  came  more 
immediately  and  easily  under  view,— the  noblesse.  These 
were  continually  hanging  about  the  governmental  steps  and 
obscuring  the  mass  of  the  people;  the  latter,  with  no 
knowledge  of  their  former  leaders'  designs,  and  steadily 
growing  out  of  sympathy  with  their  whole  life,  stolidly 
pursued  the  work  that  was  nearest  to  their  hands,  content 
to  be  let  alone,  and  troubling  themselves  very  little  about 
changes  of  government  or  law. 


1  To  Board  i.f  Trado,  October  ^gth,  ITtM.    Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  U;«. 


284  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

One  of  the  first  unmistakably  general  observations  by 
the  new  rulers  is  an  assertion  by  Murray  in  1702  that  the 
peojoie  are  not  ripe  for  the  same  form  of  government  as  in 
the  other  colonies.  Their  strong  attachment  to  the  church 
of  their  fathers  and  the  great  influence  the  clergy  had  ex- 
ercised and  could  still  exercise  over  them,  are  frequently 
spoken  of  and  insisted  upon;  though  as  early  as  1702 
(after  two  years  of  peace  and  English  government),  we 
find  Murray  stating  in  his  official  report  that  "  they  do  not 
submit  as  tamely  to  the  yoke,  and  under  sanction  of  the 
capitulation '  they  every  day  take  an  opportunity  to  dispute 
the  tithes  with  their  cur^s. "  -  A  year  later  (October  23, 
1763),^  he  urges  on  the  home  government  the  necessity  of 
caution  in  dealing  with  religious  matters;  adding  how- 
ever, that  the  people  would  not  stickle  for  the  continuance 
of  the  hierarchy,  but  would  be  content  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  priesthood  as  a  devotional  and  educational 
body.  Several  petitions  in  regard  to  religious  matters  ac- 
company this  letter,  and  these  are  undoubtedly  the  first 
general  manifestations  within  our  period  of  French  Cana- 
dian opinion  on  any  subject.*  They  appear  on  the  eve  of 
civil  government,  being  called  forth  probably  by  the  news 
of  the  definite  ceding  of  the  country  to  England.  Of  their 
genuineness  and  representative  charactei  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  and  making  all  allowance  for  the  spirit  of  humility 
and  modesty  which  the  situation  would  be  likely  to  en- 
gender, we  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that  the  body  of 
the  people  had  no  desire  for  anything  more  in  regard  to 
religion  than  the  measures  necessary  for  the  complete  en- 


ilntlie27tli  article  of  the  capitulation  ,.^i'iif<'mbor  8,  ITfiO),  tlio  F;('ncli  commandor 
had  flemandod  that  the  people  should  be  obliered  by  the  KuRlish  to  pay  the  customary 
dues  to  the  Church  — a  demand  which  was  refi»>.n>d  by  Amherst  to  the  will  of  the  king. 
The  clau.se  was  undoubtedly  iustisatcd  by  the  clerffy,  and  may  be  intcriireted  as  show- 
ing that  the  latter  were  not  at  all  disiiosed  to  trust  to  voluntary  coutriliutions.  The 
point  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  considering  the  attitude  of  the  Canadians  towards  the 
Quebi'c  Act,  which  re-established  compulsory  payment. 

'Can.  Arch.,  B.  7,  p.  i. 

»lb.,Q.  l,p.  2.51. 

<  lb.,  Q.l,  pp.  220-47.  .    .. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OK  QUEDEC,    1700-70.  2S5 

joyment  of  its  voluntary  features,  and  that  they  were 
already  distinctly  opposed  to  its  legal  establishment  with 
compulsory  powers. 

As  to  the  relations  between  the  habitantfi  and  their  old 
secular  leaders,   the  noblesse,    we   have    few    indications 
previous  to  the  Quebec  Act.     Murray,  in  a  general  report ' 
immediately    after   his   recall,    (while   still   governor,    but 
under  the  shadow  of  disapproval  and  investigation),  repre- 
sents the  state  of  things  as  perfectly  satisfactory,  in  the 
sense   of   the    habitants    being  still   of    a  submissive    and 
reverent  spirit;  saying  that  they  are  shocked  at  the  insults 
offered  the  noblesse  by  other  classes  in  the  community. 
This  must  be  taken  very  cautiously,  for  Murray's  object 
was  to  represent  the  noblesse,   with  whom   he  had  been 
very  closely   associated   against    those  other   '^lasses,    as 
thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  great  mass  of  the  poojole. 
Nor  of  much  greater  weight,  probably,  is  Carleton's  rep- 
resentation,  March  I'lth,   1709,    as   to  the   advisability   of 
admitting  some  of  the  noblesse  to  the  Council  on  account 
of  their  influence  over  the   lower  classes  (and  over  the 
Indians). '    For  he  too  seems  to  have  remained  in  error  on 
this  point  until  roughly  awakened  by  the  utter  failure  of 
the  seigneurs  in   1775  in  their   attempt  to.  assert,  for  the 
first  time  since  the  conquest,  the  old  influence.     This  will 
appear  more  fully  later;  at  present  we  need  only  notice  the 
statement  by  Chief  Justice  Hey,  that  Carleton  "has  taken 
an  ill  measure  of  the  influence  of  the  Seigneurs  or  clergy 
over  the  lower  orders  of  the  people,   whose  principle   of 
conduct,  founded  in  fear  and  the  sharpness  of  authority 
over  them  now  no  longer  exercised,  is  unrestrained,  and 
breaks  out  in  every  shape  of  contempt  and  detestation  of 
those  whom  they  used  to  behold  with  terror,  and  who  gave 

I  Can.  Arch.,  R.  S,  p.  1.     (Auk.  2U,  I'liG.) 

•Can.  Arch.,  Q.  (5,  p.  M.    Si<e  also  to  Shi'lbonrnc,  Jan.  20.  17(J.S  (Q.  5-1,  :170),   and  Nov. 
5,  1767  (g.  5-1,  M)).    The  latter  is  printea  in  full  in  Jit'ii.  (itn.  A  nit.,  1S©8,  p.  41. 


286  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

them,  I  believe,  too  many  occasions  to  express  it."'  Our 
later  investigation  will  show  that  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  influence  of  the  noblesse  had  steadily  declined 
from  the  first  hour  of  English  domination,  and  that  the 
habitant  had  come  with  remarkable  rapidity  to  look  upon 
the  seigneur  merely  in  the  light  of  an  obnoxious  landlord.^ 
The  causes  of  this  change  are  not  obscure  and  include  a 
clearer  perception  of  the  changed  character  of  government 
than  the  Canadians  are  generally  credited  with.  For  the 
main  reason,  no  doubt,  was  the  greatly  altered  position  of 
the  noblesse  under  the  new  regime,  and  their  utter  de- 
privation of  that  real  military  and  nominal  judicial  author- 
ity which  they  had  formerly  enjoyed.'  The  contemporary 
social  relations  in  old  France  will  at  once  suggest  them- 
selves to  the  reader;  and  I  need  here  only  remark  that  this 
is  not  the  only  indication  we  have  that  social  conditions  in 
the  New  France  were  not  so  different  as  has  usually  been 
supposed. 

Coming  more  particularly  to  the  matter  of  general  politi- 
cal attitude  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the  fact  that  the 
trouble  shortly  before  experienced  with  the  Acadians  seems 
to  have  no  parallel  in  Canada  down  to  the  American  inva- 
sion. At  the  capitulation  the  Canadians  acquiesced  by  the 
most  complete  submission  in  the  new  rule,  and  during  the 
period  that  elapsed  before  the  fate  of  the  country  was 
finally  decided  we  have  in  the  reports  of  the  commanding 
officers  only  the  strongest  expressions  of  content  with  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  conducting  themselves.  Murray's 
testimony  (already  quoted),  is  amply  supported  by  that  of 
others  representing  all  sections  of  the  country.  Burton 
(commanding  at  Three  Rivers),  says  that  they  "  seem  very 
happy  in  the  change  of  their  masters,"  and  "begin  to  feel 

I  To  tho  Lord  Chiincellor,  Aug.  W,  1775.    Can.  Arch . ,  Q.  12,  p.  'ittl. 

'  Sco  Mast^res'  Accou>ito/  the  PrncecdiiKjs,  etc.;  aluo  Cianialifi  to  HilUborough,  July 
25.  1772.  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  !>.  160.) 

'Tlie  influonco  of  military  position  upon  tlio  habitant  was  early  perceived  by  Murray, 
who  in  1764  strongly  urges  on  the  home  government  the  necesnity  on  this  account  of  the 
military  and  civil  authority  in  tho  Province  being  united.    (Can.  Arch,,  Q.  2,  p.  206.) 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  287 

that  they  are  nojonger  slaves."'  Gage  (at  Montreal), 
writes  that  "  the  people  in  general  seem  well  enough 
disposed  towards  their  new  masters."'  The  strongest 
assertions  come  from  Haldimand,  a  French-speaking 
Swiss  soldier,  (Carleton's  successor  in  1778  as  governor 
of  the  province),  who  may  be  supposed  not  only  to  have 
been  best  able  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  real 
attitude  of  the  people,  but  also  to  have  been  the  least 
easily  swayed  in  his  conclusions.  August  25th,  1762,'  he 
writes  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  in  regard  to  the 
groundlessness  of  the  fears  that  had  been  expressed  lest 
the  Canadians  should  be  dangerously  affected  by  a  recent 
success  of  the  French  in  Newfoundland,  and  later  asserts 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  noblesse  and  clergy  they 
are  not  uneasy  as  to  their  fate,  and  will  easily  console 
themselves  for  the  change  of  rulers.*  Allowance  must 
probably  be  made  in  these  representations  for  the  natural 
desire  of  the  military  authorities  to  put  their  management 
of  the  country  in  the  best  light  possible;  but  making  all 
such  we  can  still  have  no  doubt  that  matters  were  in  a  per- 
fectly pacific  (perhaps,  rather,  lethargic),  state,  and  that 
from  the  conquerors'  standpoint  the  conduct  of  the 
habitant  left  little  to  be  desired. 

The  people  were  indeed  thoroughly  exhausted  from  the 
recent  struggle  and  all  thought  of  further  resistance  had 
dejmrted  with  their  leaders,  the  most  irreconcilable  of 
whom  had  gone  to  France  at  the  capitulation.  They  had 
been  stimulated  in  their  efforts  against  the  English  by 
representations  of  the  tyranny  the  latter  if  successful  would 
immediately  institute, —  representations  which  had  been  the 
more  easily  credited  from  their  knowledge  of  the  fate  which 
had    overtaken    the    Acadians.''    But    that   this    fear    was 

lOtHcial  roport,  May,  1763.     Ciui.  Arch.,  B.  7,  pp.  61-M. 

>OHicial  ruport,  Marcli  a),  17(52.    Ibid.,  U.  7,  p.  St. 

•Ibid.,  B.  1,  p.  216. 

*T()  Anilierst,  December  20,  1762,  anil  February,  176;J.    Ibid..  B.  1,  pp.  202,  286. 

•Murray  to  Halifax,  March  9, 1761.    Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  2,  p.78. 


288  BULLETIN   OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

rapidly  dispelled  is  strongly  indicated  by  the  statistical 
statement  with  regard  to  the  emigration  to  Franf'\  which 
had  been  provided  for  in  the  treaty,  and  which  was  open  with- 
out restriction  to  all  for  eighteen  montlis  from  its 
conclusion.  As  we  have  already  seen  the  leading  French 
of  the  official,  military  and  commercial  classes  had  left  be- 
fore the  cession;  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  these  for 
the  most  part  had  never  been  very  strongly  rooted  in  the 
coimtry,  and  were  first  of  all.  Frenchmen.  The  later 
records  show  that  those  who  had  any  landed  interests  in 
Canada  joined  but  little  in  this  movement,  and  that  still 
fewer  of  the  mass  of  the  people  went.'  The  term  of  facili- 
tated emigration  extended  through  the  summer  of  1764,  and 
in  August  Murray,  after  collecting  statistical  statements 
from  the  dilferent  commanders,  writes  that  only  270  are 
going  from  the  whole  province,  most  of  whom  "  are  offi- 
cers, their  wives,  children  and  servants."  The  tone  with 
which  the  people  finally  accepted  the  irrevocable  handing 
over  of  the  country  to  England  is  very  plainly  to  be  seen 
in  the  religious  addresses  which  have  already  been  referred 
to  as  the  first  movement  in  any  sense  common  that  we 
meet  with  on  the  part  of  the  Canadians.  The  tone  is  a 
manly  one,  and  without  any  hypocritical  professions  of 
pleasure  at  the  state  of  affairs,  indicates  a  readiness  (recog- 
nizing "  que  toute  autorit^  vient  de  Dieu")  to  make  the 
best  of  a  bad  business. 

In  general,  therefore,  with  regard  to  the  lower  classes, 
■we  do  not  find  throughout  the  period  preceding  the  Quebec 
Act  any  indication  that  might  have  made  the  rulers  uneasy. 
And  certainly  if  anybody  had  profited  by  the  change  of  gov- 
ernment it  was  the  habitant.  He  had  been  relieved  from 
very  grievous  burdens,  and  at  least  during  the  earlier  years, 
does  not  seem  to  have  felt  much  new  pressure  in  their 
stead.     His  peace  and  security  had  formerly  cost  him  con- 

1  Emitfrntiou  ou  their  imrt  wnw  of  course  a  much  more  serious  matter.  Aud  the 
Canadians  were  early  remarkable  for  lovo  of  their  native  country,  (See  Cramahfi  to 
Hillsborough,  July  25, 1772.  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  I'JO.) 


COFFIN— THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEIJKC,    17(>0-7G.  289 

stantand  often  most  critical  military  service;   now  it  cost 
him  nothing.     And   that  he  was  not  slow  in  appreciating 
some  aspects  of  the  change  in  government  is  shown  by  a 
difficulty  those  in  charge  of  the  battivnx  service  met  with 
in  the  autumn  of  1705.     This  service  (of  transporting  by 
water  troops  and  supplies  to  the  garrisons  in  the  upper 
country),  was  a  constantly  necessary  one,  and  had  been 
performed  during  the  military  period  (i.  e.,  1700-4)  with- 
out any  difficulty  by  means  of  impress  warrants,—  the  people 
apparently  regarding  as  a  matter  of  course  what  they  had 
been  iiocustomed  under  the  old  r(''gime  to  do  as  a  part  of 
their  regular  militia  duty.     On  the  separation  of  the  civil 
from  the  military  authority  such  demands  upon  the  people 
in  time  of  peace  became  illegal,'  and  the  service  had  not 
been  otherwise  provided  for.     Duj'ing   the    first   year    of 
civil  government  it   seems   to  have   been  continued,  how- 
ever, in  a  moderate  way  without  opposition  that  we  hear 
of;  but  October,  1705    the  officer  in  charge  reports  great 
difficulties.     Governor  Murray  had   refused   to  grant  im- 
press warrants,  sending   instead   to   the   local   authorities 
recommendations  of  a  peremptory  nature;   but  we  find  it 
stated  that  half  of  the  parishes  applied  to  had  refused  to 
send  a  man,  and  that  in  one  place  the  peojile  had  threat- 
ened to  beat  the  bailiff.     The  military  officer  reports  that 
"  the  bailiffs  disregarded  the  orders  given  and  the  people 
were  adverse  and  corrupted,"  and  again  that  "the  Canadians 
are  now  poisoned  in  their  minds  and  instructed  that  they 
cannot  be  forced  on  such  services.  '     And  it  was  not  until 
an  impress  warrant  of  full  power  had  been  issued  by  the 
governor  (on  the  plea  of  unavoidable  necessity),  that  the 
servi'ie  could  be  performed.'    But  it  would  seem  that  it  was 
only  on  its  military  side  of  relief  from  oppressive  duty  and, 
the    immediate    control   of   the    seigneur    or   captain   of 
militia,  that  the  change  of  government  seems  thus  to  have 

1  See  opinion  of  Pro V.  Att.-Gen.,  Octob.-r  5th,  ITG').    Can.  .Arcli.,  Q.  A,  p.  M. 
»  Lords  of  Tradu  to  Colonial  Secretary,  May  lt5th,  17ti6,  with  encL-.suros.    Can.  Arch.,  Q, 
3,  pp.  53-120. 


290  ncr-LETiN  of  the  universitv  ok  Wisconsin. 

been  appreciated.  In  a  letter  to  Shelbourne  of  December 
24th,  17()7,  Carleton,  after  discussing  tlie  fact  that  the 
French  Canadians  still  continued  to  transact  their  minor 
legal  alfairs  in  ways  which  would  be  invalid  in  the  higher 
courts,  writes  that  he  ha.s  met  only  one  Canadian  "  who 
sees  the  groat  revolution  '  in  its  full  influence,"  and  that  he 
anticipates  general  consternation  as  the  situation  comes  to 
be  known. 

In  January,  17G^<,  we  find  Carleton  declaring  that  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  Canadians  from  ottice,  though  directly 
concerning  but  a  few  (as  but  few  were  eligible),  indirectly 
affected  the  minds  of  all,  being  regarded  as  a  national 
slight  and  prejudice.  There  is  strong  reason  for  doubting 
the  accuracy  of  this  statement  and  for  believing  that  on 
the  whole  the  body  of  the  people  did  not  trouble  them- 
selves about  the  matter.  It  is  difficult  to  come  to  a  decision 
as  to  how  far  a  similar  opinion  may  be  justified  in  regard 
to  the  movement  that  undoubtedly  gained  ground,  or  at 
least  more  confident  expression,  every  year,  with  reference 
to  the  full  restoration  of  the  ancient  civil  laws.-  But  we 
are  safe  in  taking  whatever  general  expression  we  find  on 
this  head  in  a  much  more  representative  light,  for  every 
presumption  would  lead  in  that  direction,  and  the  influence 
of  the  clergy  was  a  constant  factor  therefor.'  As  stated 
above,  the  earlier  years  do  not  show  any  very  decided 
steps,  and  no  doubt  the  more  resolute  stand  of  the  later 
years  is  largely  attributable  to  political  education  on  the 
part  of  a  few,  and  to  the  increasing  pressure  of  the  new 
system,  which  was  daily  augmenting  the  points  of  contact. 
It  must  from  year  to  year  have  been  found  more  difficult 
to   follow   the    course  with  which  the  people  have  been 

•  He  is  rpferriiiK  more  es-jjecially  to  the  \u\\f,  sui)i>osp(Uy  iii  (o/n  cliangod  by  the 
Proclainatioti  of  176i}. 

'Englisli  criminal  law  was  npvv>r  objected  to.  and  probably  touched  the  ,)eople  on  few 
l)oint.«.     See  evidence  of  Carleton  before  House  of  Coniinons,  1774,  Cavondish's  Ucport. 

5  See  in  connection  here  the  later  dis^cui-sion  of  the  extent  to  which  French  and  Eng- 
liA  law  was  actually  m-.'d. 


f OFKIN — THE   I'ROYI.NCE  OF  QUEHEC,    17(iO-7(!.  2'Jl 

credited,  of  avoiding  the  courts  (for  the  Canadians  were 
naturally  a  litigious  people).'  Not  many  i)otitions  or 
memorials  on  this  subject  have  come  down  to  us  from 
these  years,  but  there  were  undoubtedly  more  than  we 
know  of.  It  was  Carloton's  policy  to  discourage  this  or  any 
other  form  of  popular  demonstration, —  a  policy  which  his 
known  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  French  and  the 
hopes  he  held  out  of  their  being  soon  attained,  enabled 
him  to  follow  out  pretty  successfully.  August  7th,  1769, 
he  writes  that  when  last  at  Montreal  he  had  succeeded  in 
suppressing  "  the  rough  draft  of  a  memorial  to  the  king 
for  the  ancient  laws,"  which  had  been  "  communicated  for 
my  approval."-  October  2r)th,  of  the  same  year,  he  says 
that  the  lack  of  petitions  on  this  subject  was  due  solely  to 
himself,  and  that  if  there  had  been  given  any  hint  that  such 
were  thought  requisite,  "there  is  not  a  Canadian  from  one 
extremity  of  the  province  to  the  other  that  would  not  sign 
or  set  his  mark  to  such  a  petition. "  ^  He  seems  to  have 
succeeded  in  inspiring  the  Canadians  who  were  so  minded 
with  confidence  in  his  advocacy  of  their  wishes,  and  when 
he  left  the  province  in  the  lutumn  of  1770  (going  ex- 
pressly, as  was  well  known,  to  give  advice  preparatory  to  a 
decisive  settling  of  the  government),  he  was  presented  by 
the  French  Canadians  only  with  some  addresses  in  regard 
to  education,  which  they  beg  him  to  add  to  the  points  to 
be  I'epresented  on  their  behalf. 

In  a  word  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  there  was  nothing 
in  the  attitude  of  the  people  during  this  period  to  give  the 
government  serious  disquietude.  And  we  have  evidence 
that  the  officials  both  at  home  and  in  the  province  were 
keeping  a  close  watch  for  all  symptoms  of  discontent,  and 
were  predisposed  to  see  them  if  they  existed.  March  27th, 
1767,  Carleton  writes  to  Sir  William  Johnson  (in  answer  to 

'  Mpmorlal  of  Pierre  du  Calvct,  October,  1770.     Can.  Arch.,  Q.  7,  p.  279. 

"Can.  Arch.,  Q. 6,  p.  115. 

'  Can,  Arch.,  Q.  6,  p.  151.    Beasons  for  doubting  this  assertion  will  bo  presented  later. 


292  HULLETIN  OV  THE   UNIVEIISITV    OK    WISCONSIN 

an  opinion  expressed  by  the  latter  that  Ine  Canadian 
traders  were  tatn])ering  with  the  Indians): --"  Ever  since 
my  arrival  I  have  observed  the  Canadians  with  an  attention 
bordering  upon  suspicion,  but  hitherto  have  not  discovered 
either  actions  or  sentiments  wliich  do  not  belong  to  good 
subjects.  " '  November  20,  17G8,-  he  writes  to  Hillsborough 
(apparently  in  answer  to  some  uneasiness  at  home),  that 
his  observation  of  the  people  has  not  revealed  anything  to 
cause  him  to  give  any  credit  to  alarming  reports;  adding, 
however,  (now  evidently  referring  only  to  the  noblesse), 
that  he  has  not  the  least  doubt  of  their  secret  attachment 
to  France,  and  that  the  non -discovery  of  traces  of  a 
treasonable  correspondence  was  not  to  him  sufficient  proof 
that  it  did  not  exist.  Early  in  1772  Hillsborough  transmits 
to  Quebec  a  copy  of  a  treasonable  letter  to  France,  alleged 
to  have  been  signed  by  members  of  the  Canadian  noblesse.' 
In  answer  Cramah6  declares  his  disbelief  in  its  genuineness, 
but  shows  himself  by  no  means  satisfied  of  the  trust- 
worthiness of  any  class.  However,  the  latest  utterance  we 
have  previous  to  the  Quebec  Act  is  a  statement  by  the 
same  official,  December  13th,  1773,  that  the  people  are  tract- 
able and  submissive.* 

It  will  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  said  above  that 
we  are  not  to  look  for  reflections  of  the  public  mind  in  the 
form  of  public  meetings.  Such  demonstrations  had  been 
jealously  prohibited  by  the  French  government  for  more 
than  a  century  before  the  advent  of  the  English,  and 
while  there  is  no  indication  throughout  this  period  that 
the  people  generally  expressed  any  wish  for  such  a  privi- 
lege,'*  the    attitude    of    the    provincial    government    was 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  122. 

'  Lettor  printed  in  full  in  liepor'  f^anadian  Arch.,  1888,  p.  48. 

=  Cau.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  111. 

*Cun.  Arch.,  Q.  10,  p.  22. 

*  Carloton  testified  l)oforo  the  Houso  v  Commons  in  tho  debate  on  the  Quebec  Bill 
that  he  had  never  hoard  of  petitions  from  the  inhabitants  to  meet  in  bodies.  The  state- 
ment was  supported  by  Chief-Justice  Hoy,  who  said  that  he  knew  of  no  conference 
among  the  Canadians  regarding  forms  of  government.    That  some  popular  movement, 


COFFIN — TIIK   I'llOVIXCE  OF  QUEllKC,    17(i()    70.  293 

evidently  not  much  more  liberal  than  during  the  old 
r('>ffimo.  All  popular  movements,  not  only  by  way  of  pub- 
lic mcetinjJTS.  but  also  throu^'h  addri>ssos,  petitions,  etc., 
were  frowned  upon  by  the  authorities.  Iloth  Murray  and 
Carleton  were  men  of  iiutocratic  temper  and  of  military 
training',  and  seevn  to  have  regarded  all  such  attempts  to 
influence  governmental  action  as  partaking  of  the  nature 
of  treason. 

Very  little  need  bo  said  with  regard  to  such  adminis- 
trative aspects  of  the  new  n'gime  as  might  be  considered 
factors,  however  sligiit,  in  the  political  education  of  the 
French  Canadians.  It  will  bo  remembered  that  under  the 
old  n'gime  the  highly  centralized  government  had  acted  in 
local  matters  entirely  by  officials  appointed  from  head- 
ciuarters.  The  situation  is  but  very  slightly  different  in 
this  first  stage  of  English  rule.  The  only  trace  of  local 
self-government  that  is  to  be  found  is  with  regard  to  the 
parish  bailiffs,  (in  large  measure  replacing  the  French 
captains  of  militia),  who,  beside  their  duties  as  adminis- 
trative officers  of  the  courts  of  justice,  acted  also  in  their 
several  districts  as  overseers  of  highways  and  bridges,  as 
fence  viewers,  and  sometimes  as  coroners.  These  officials 
and  their  assistants  were  appointed  by  the  government  out 
of  a  list  of  six  names  annually  furnished  by  the  house- 
holders in  each  parish.'  That  the  regulation  was  observed 
throughout  the  period  and  that  the  people  seem  on  the 
whole  to  have  complied  with  it,  though  not  very  eagerly, 

lidwi'vcr,  early  took  place  aiiioiin  tlic  French  of  tlie  town  of  Quebec  i.«  shown  by  a  pajjer 
in  tlie  Ilaldimaiid  colh'Ctiou.  It  is  an  aiiswerhy  Murray  to  a  cIiarKi'  tliat  lie  occasioned 
discord  anions  the  old  and  new  subjects  by  allowinc  soino  of  the  latter  to  meet  in  a  do- 
liherative  way  ;  his  explanation  beinp:  that  this  had  been  permittfld  only  under  careful 
restrictions,  and  with  the  desire  of  puardiuK  the  dependent  French  dealer  aKainst  the 
influence  of  the  English  trader.  That  at  least  one  such  nieetiiiK  took  place  is  certiiln  ; 
but  it  is  eiiually  evident  that  there  were  very  few,  if  any,  more.  It  is  most  probable 
that  the  movement  was  due  to  a  small  group  of  professional  men  at  Quebec,  whom  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  later  as  very  rai)idly  taking  the  i)lace  of  the  noblesse  in 
the  leadership  of  the  people.  The  matter  is  of  importance  also  with  respect  to  the 
cireailed  iufiuenc(>  of  the  Knglish  trader. 
1  Ordinance  of  Sept.  17, 1764. 
2 


29-1  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   WISCONSIN. 

(probably,  as  in  the  case  of  juries,  regardicg  it  more  as  a 
burden  than  as  a  privilege),  is  shown  by  hints  from  the 
Council  minutes,'  Further  than  this  we  have  no  trace  of 
participation  by  the  people  in  their  own  government;  such 
local  affairs  as  were  not  managed  by  the  bailiffs  being  in 
the  hands  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  or  other  direct  ap- 
pointees of  the  central  government.  Of  direct  representa- 
tion of  the  people  m  regard  to  the  central  government  there 
was  of  course  none  during  the  period,  the  Assembly  which 
had  been  promised  in  the  proclamation  of  1763  never  being 
established.-'  "We  need  not  delay  over  what  might  be  re(- 
garded  as  forms  of  indirect  representation, —  as  through  the 
requirement  that  the  council  should  consist  only  of  resi- 
dents, and  through  grand  juries  whose  duly  it  was  to 
report  grievances,  and  whose  report  we  find  in  one  in- 
stance the  direct  occasion  of  new  legislation;  for  these 
could  contribute  little  or  nothing  to  political  education. 

But  yet  that  such  political  education  was  proceeding  the 
following  study  will,  I  think,  furnish  considerable  indirect 
and  cumulative  evidence.  Just  now  I  shall  point  only 
to  some  striking  direct  evidence  as  to  the  progress  made 
up  to  the  American  invasion.  It  is  the  statement  of  a  revo- 
lutionary officer  stationed  at  Thi'ee  Rivers,   and   entrusted 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  .")-l,  i».  29."i ;  lb.  .i-2,  p.  870. 

"In  rpjiiui)  to  tliii  ass(>niV)ly  \vi'  nu-i't  at  tlid  outset  ii  curious  iniccrtninty  a.s  to  Thother 
any  inea^uros  wi'i-t;  actually  tak  'U  for  tlu^  bi'ii'.ariuu;  of  it  totrctlier.  Tim  inodorn  Fiencli 
Canadian  liis(orian,  (iarncnui,  a-siu'ts  that  it  was  actually  convoked  by  Murray,  and 
that  its  sitting  was  provonted  by  the  refusal  of  the  CJanadians  to  take  the  oaths,  Mar- 
riott, in  his  riiport  to  thp  Crown,  1774,  says  in  roKard  to  an  assembly  that  "the  fact  is, 
tlumirh  sunwnoned  and  chose  for  all  the  r)arishes  but  Quebec  by  Gov.  Murray,  it  has 
never  sat."  On  the  other  hatul  Maseres  states  in  17ii9  that  "no  assembly  has  hitherto 
been  suniuioned."  Tlu*  i)r(>bability  of  fact  is  with  MasOres,  for  it  ceenis  incredible  that 
such  an  important  step  as  the  summoning  iu  the  much-debatod  matter  of  an  assembly, 
not  to  say  an  actual  election,  could  have  taken  i)lace  without  any  indication  being 
piven  in  an  unbroken  odlcial  correspondence  which  f,'i)i>s  minutely  into  comparatively 
insii^uiflcaut  matters.  Marriott,  (who  is  i)robablv  (iarnean's  authority),  was  possibly 
misled  by  some  notice  of  the  election  of  bailiff-lists,  It  is  certain  that  no  assembly  was 
ever  constituted,  and  that  whether  the  French  Canadians  wore  or  were  not  given  an  op- 
portunity tit  refuse  to  take  the  relicioiis  oaths  required,  these  oaths  were  the  main 
cause  cf  tliu  delay.  That  (ielay  is  ciwi-lt  upon  elsewhere  in  connection  with  general  im- 
perial policy  and  the    euosis  of  the  Quebec  .\ct. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  295 

through  that  district  (containing  seventeen  parishes),  with 
the  task  of  replacing  the  militia  officers  appointed  by 
Carleton  by  others  in  the  interest  of  the  revolutionary 
cause.  Such  was  the  public  feeling  in  this  district  that 
this  was  done  by  popular  election,  the  account  of  which 
shows  the  existence  of  a  high  degree  of  interest  among  the 
Canadians  in  the  proceeding.  "  In  some  parishes  there  are 
three  or  four  candidates  for  the  captaincy,  and  I  receive 
information  that  bribery  and  corruption  is  already  begin- 
ning to  cree])  into  their  elections.  At  some  the  disputes 
run  so  high  that  I  am  obliged  to  interfere."'  July  5,  1776, 
Gen.  Wooster  writes  to  Congress  that  he  had  caused  simi- 
lar elections  to  be  held  in  every  parish  (apparently  of  the 
District  of  Montreal).-  The  political  advance  of  the 
French  Canadians  will  best  be  appreciated  through  the  ex- 
amination later  of  their  general  attitude  toward  the  Quebec 
Act  and  the  American  invasion.  One  of  the  conclusions  of 
this  study  is  that  under  the  discouraging  and  unprogres- 
sive  conditions  which  marked  the  few  years  of  misgovern- 
ment  between  the  conquest  and  the  American  revolution 
they  had  yet  made  such  advance  in  the  comprehension  and 
appreciation  of  English  government  as  to  justify  the 
strongest  confidence  in  the  possibility  of  a  rapid  and  har- 
monious Anglicizing  of  the  new  province. 
[  I  had  purposed  treating  of  the  bourgeoisie  separately,  but 
the  material  seems  on  the  whole  scarcely  to  warrant  a 
sharp  distinction  between  this  class  and  the  general  body 
of  the  habitants.  In  the  former  term  I  include  the  great 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns,'  as  well  as  the  re- 
tail dealers  throughout  the  country  and  out  of  it  among  the 
Indians;  and  the  social  conditions  of  old  Prance  at  the  time 
would  lead  us  to  look  for  almost  as  wide  a  chasm  between 


1  .^ul6r.  Arch.,  IV.  5,  481.    "Extract  of  a  letter  from  uu  officer  in  the  ContiuentulArmy, 
(lat<Ml  Trois  RiviCros,  MarcL  24, 1776." 
'  5  Anier.  Archives,  I.  12, 
'  Tho  population  of  Queboc  and  Montreal  is  given  In  1785  by  Murray  as  14,700.  .; 


296  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

the  bourgeois  and  the  habitant  as  between  either  and  the 
seiQncur.  But  this  Is  a  point  in  which  wo  do  not  tind  the 
social  conditions  of  old  and  new  Prance  corresponding;  for 
in  Canada  the  tjourgeoiK  attitude  was  in  the  main  that  of  the 
peasantry  from  which  it  had  largely  sprung,  and  with 
which  it  had  constant  and  c^oso  intercourse.'  It  is  probable 
indeed  that  in  the  absenc^  -^  manufactures  and  the  great 
possession  of  trade  by  tiie  English  element,  a  large  part 
of  the  urban  population  was  directly  connected  with  the 
land,  having  been  attracted  to  the  town  by  reasons  of  se- 
curity and  convenience.-  Garneau  asserts,  indeed,  that  the 
merchant  class  went  to  France  at  the  conclusion  of  j)eace ; 
but  the  statement  is  probably  true  in  regard  only  to  the 
more  considerable  dealers.  We  are  told  by  Murray  in  1762 
that  the  retail  dealers  are  generally  natives,  and  this  evi- 
dently continued  to  be  the  case  throughout  the  period. 
One  of  the  natural  results  would  be  the  bringing  of  the 
French  commercial  class  largely  under  the  influence  of  the 
English,  the  latter  practically  monopolizing  the  wholesale 
trade;  and  of  such  an  influence  we  have  many  traces.'  It 
is  to  be  expected,  of  course,  that  we  should  find  the  towns- 
men more  active  in  public  appearances.  The  addresses  in 
1763  on  the  subject  of  religion  are  evidently  more  espe- 
cially from  them;  those  from  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers  ex- 
pressly so  represent  themselves,  though  claiming  also  to 
act  on  behalf  of  the  country  regions.  How  correct  the  as- 
sumption of  representation  is  we  are  left  to  determine  for 
ourselves,  but  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  there  exists  no 
petition  or  memorial  of  aay  kind  coming  from  the  habitants 
in  the  first  instance,  nor  any  indication  of  any  right  of 
action  being  deputed  by  them  to  their  so-called  representa- 


'  Stio  Hnldlinaiid's  statciiipnt  to  (jcrmiiiiio,  July  6,  ITSl,  about  tlw  cunnc^ctitm  botweon 
tho  traders  of  tlw  town  uiul  tliu  country  uud  tlu>  iufluenco  of  thi' latter  over  tho  peas- 
antry.   (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  40.) 

'  An  ordiiumco  was  issued  by  Hiffot,  toward  the  close  of  the  Frencli  r^Kiino,  aKaiust 
the  country  people  moving  to  the  towns. 

•  Especially  in  connection  with  the  Quebec  Act,  1774-.5.  Si^e  also  Cn  rleton  to  Shol- 
burne,  November '^9,  1700.     (Can,  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  40.)     St(e  above,  p.  'I'M.  note. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17C0-76.  297 

tives.  The  peasant  was  too  ignorant  and  too  unaccustomed 
to  such  measures.  But  nevertheless  we  may  conclude  that, 
except  on  points  manifestly  only  of  urban  application, 
the  voice  of  the  townsman  is  in  the  main  exjiressive  of 
general  grievances  and  desires.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
period  Haldimand  expressly  classes  the  shopkeeper  among 
the  general  body  of  the  inhabitants  in  their  apparent  in- 
difference to  the  fate  of  the  country. 

It.      Tlie  Noblesse  and  the.  (Jlerrjy. 

As  said  above,  for  full  and  vivid  pictures  of  the  differ- 
ent classes  of  the  community  we  can  go  to  Parkman.  All 
that  is  attempted  here  is  to  set  forth  such  indications  dur- 
ing our  period  as  may  seem  to  have  a  bearing  on  the 
problems  of  government.  And  first  in  consideration  must 
come  the  noblesse,  the  old  secular  leaders.  The  earliest 
general  rei)resentations  we  meet  with  in  regard  to  them  are 
found  in  the  reports  of  the  military  commanders  in  1762. 
Murray's  picture  is  not  a  pleasant  one  (and  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  Murray  is  generally  their  determined 
champion,  and  was  so  regarded  by  them ) ;  it  represents  them 
as  in  general  poor,  extremely  vain,  arrogant  toward  the 
trading  community,  (though  very  ready  to  reap  profits  in 
the  same  way  when  opportunity  offered),'  and  tyrannical 
with  their  vassals.-  The  contemporary  reports  of  Gage 
and  Burton  do  not  enter  into  characterizations,  but  agree 
with  Murray's  in  stating  that  the  English  government  will 
not  be  relished  by  the  noblesse,  and  that  any  emigration 
will  be  from  their  ranks.  The  vast  extent  of  the 
seigniories  (five  or  six  miles  front  by  six  or  nine  deep),  is 
enlarged  upon  by  Burton;  but  these  estates  produced  very 
little  to  their  holders,  and  we  have  an  apparently  trust- 
worthy statement  to  the  effect  that  128  of  the  seigniories 

>  It  will  ht\  rcnuMiilK'rtMl  that  on  ficcoimt  of  tlio  povorty  of  tlin  ol:is.i  its  inpmbcrs  wnro 
allowed  by  tlio  Frciioh  Rovorimu'iit  tomiKn«o  in  tniiln  witlioiit  losing  ciisto. 

'  Sec  He;'  to  Lord  Cimiicollor,  .\uKnst  '2»,  1775,  for  stntetiiotit  of  the  low  upiuionhe  had 
formed  of  the  uoblosse  in  couucll.    Can.  Areh.,  Q.  12,  p.  203. 


298  BULLETIN  OK  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ^VISCONSIN. 

yielded  an  average  of  only  £00  per  year.'  Certainly  the 
poverty  of  the  seigniorial  families  is  a  matter  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of;  we  meet  with  constant  references  thereto 
throughout  the  period,  it  being  frequently  assumed  that 
their  means  of  livelihood  had  been  taken  away  by  the 
deprivation  of  public  employment.-  For  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  this  class  was  from  first  to  last  under  the  French 
a  military  and  administrative  one,'  though  without  any 
real  influence  on  the  government,  which  generally  took  the 
part  of  the  habitant  against  them.  They  were  not  country 
gentlemen,  most  of  them  residing  constantly  in  the  towns 
and  visiting  their  estates  only  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
dues.  Everything  goes  to  show  that  their  influence  over 
the  people  was  purely  of  military  foundation,  and  that  it 
fell  to  pieces  when  the  militai'y  relation  ceased.* 

As  shown  by  a  report  of  Carleton'  the  most  important 
part  of  the  order  left  Canada  at  the  capitulation  or  the  con- 
clusion of  peace;  those  who  remained  being  of  a  lower  rank, 
of  less  property,  and  of  less  close  connection  with  France. 
These  latter  are  reported  as  comprising  126  male  adults, 
some  of  whom  have  families.  The  first  political  manifes- 
tation which  purports  to  be  exclusively  from  them  is  the  me- 
morial of  the  seigniors  of  Quebec  to  the  king,  1766,  in 
defense  of  Murray,"  signed  by  twenty-one  names.  The  docu- 
ment is  a  strong  expression  of  personal  satisfaction  with  that 
oflScial  and  his  methods,  beginning,  however,  with  a  com- 
parison of  the  civil  government  with  the  military  one  they 
had  first  experienced  in  a  manner  very  unfavorable  to  the 


1  Marriott  puts  tho  value  of  tlio  best  at  JE*  a  year.  {C<idc  nf  Lntrs.)  See  above,  p.  279, 
note,  for  reference  in  Carroll's  JmiriKtl  to  poverty  of  tlie  wigiKMirt;. 

"^  Mast'res  (states  that  120  liad  lost  ollici!  by  tlie  coiKiuest,  uiid  Carleton  writes  to  Town- 
send,  November  ITtli,  1760,  that  they  had  lieen  wliolly  detKindent  on  the  French 
crown.  See  also  snme  to  Slielbourne,  March  2d,  178S.  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  f).  :J82,  and 
Rep.  Can.  Arch.,  1886,  Note  D.) 

'Carleton  to  Townsend,  Nov.  17,  1766.    Can.  Arch.,  Q.  :l,  p.  411. 

*  See  Haldimund  to  Gerniaine,  July  2r>tli,  177S.    Can,  Arch.,  B.  42,  p.  10. 
•Nov.,  1767.  See  Rep.  Can.  Arch,,  1888,  p.  44. 

•  Rip.  Can.  Arch.,  1S8,S,  p.  19. 


COFFIN — THE  PIlOVINCE  OF  QUEHr.C,    17(J0-7<!.  299 

former.  It  denounces  the  "  Cabal "  which  the  old  subjects 
and  a  few  deluded  new  subjects  had  formed  aj?ainst  the 
governor  and  supplicates  his  restoration.  Of  somewhat 
wider  scope  is  the  corresponding  petition  in  the  same  year 
from  the  seigniors  of  Montreal,  which,  after  asking  for 
Murray's  retention,  goes  on  to  complain  of  their  own  ex- 
clusion from  office  and  of  the  expense  of  the  required  regis- 
tration of  land  (with  thirty -nine  signatures).  In  November, 
1767,  Carleton  writes'  that  as  nothing  had  been  done  to 
attach  the  gentry  to  the  British  interest,  and  as  they  had 
lost  all  employment  by  the  change,  it  could  not  be  hoped 
that  they  would  be  very  warm  in  its  support.  "  Therefore, 
all  circumstances  considered,  while  matters  remain  in 
their  present  state,  the  most  we  may  hope  for  from  the 
gentlemen  who  remain  in  the  province  is  a  passive 
neutrality  on  all  occasions,  with  respectful  submission  to 
government  and  deference  for  the  king's  commission  in 
whatever  hand  it  may  be  lodged;  these  they  almost  to  a 
man  have  persevered  in  since  my  arrival,  notwithstanding 
much  pains  have  been  taken  to  engage  them  in  parties  by 
a  few  whose  duty  and  whose  office  should  have  taught  them 
better."-  One  year  later  (November  20th,  1768),  he  speaks 
of  their  "  decent  and  respectful  obedience  to  the  king's 
government  hitherto,"  though  frankly  admitting  that  he 
has  no  doubt  of  their  secret  attachment  to  France,  which 
"naturally  has  the  affection  of  all  the  people."  ' 

Of  much  greater  importance  than  the  noblesse,  through 
their  more  deeply-seated  influence  over  the  people,  were 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy.  Readers  of  Parkman  will  re- 
call the  turgid  rhetoric  in  which  at  the  close  of  his  '  Old 
Regime"  he  sums  up  the  vast  share  that  had  fallen  to  the 
Church  from  the  very  first  in  the  founding  and  direction 
of  the  colony;  and  though   during  the  period  we  are  con- 

ii?p;).  Can.  Arch.,  ifWS,  p.  41. 

' 8oe  Caripton  concorniiijf  ttio  di.siir'l"'<'val  by  tln>  pctitry  of  tli«>  verdict  ai?ninst  the 
crown  in  tlio  mattor  of  duf it's,  Dccfnilx'r  24tli,  17(17.  (("an.  Arch.,  Q.  :*-\,  p.  ,n6). 
•Can.  Arch.,  g.  !i-2,  p.  S9a 


300  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

sidering  that  influence  was  undoubtedly  on  the  wane,  (how 
much  so  will  be  seen  in  regard  to  the  American  in- 
vasion), still  it  was  a  factor  that  cannot  be  neglected.  It 
would  seem  that  the  military  period  had  been  favourable 
to  the  preservation  of  the  jiersonal  influence  of  the  clergy, 
notwithstanding  the  indication  referred  to  above  of  the  loss 
of  tractability  on  the  part  of  the  habitant  in  the  matter  of 
tithes.  For  they  (as  well  as  such  other  local  magnates  as 
were  accessible),  took  in  large  measure  not  only  during 
the  military  period  but  even  probably  in  some  degree  till 
the  Quebec  Act,  the  place  of  the  French  local  judiciary. 
Garneau  says  that  all  disputes  were  settled  by  the  inter- 
mediation of  the  clergy  and  other  local  leaders,'  and 
though  his  picture  is  undoubtedly  overdrawn,  every  pre- 
sumption is  in  favour  of  a  considerable  movement  in  this 
direction.  It  was  to  the  clergy  and  to  the  old  militia 
officers  rather  than  to  the  noblesse  that  the  peasant  would 
naturally  betake  himself,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  with 
them  he  felt  more  in  sympathy  as  being  largely  of  the 
same  class.  For  the  lower  clergy  then  as  now  was  largely 
drawn  from  the  ranks  of  the  peasantry.  Murray,  in  his 
report  of  1762,  expressly  states  that  the  most  prominent 
were  French,  the  rest  Canadians  of  the  lower  class.  This 
is  a  division  we  should  expect,  and  it  is  not  surprising  also 
to  find  indications  of  some  jealousy  and  difference  of  view 
between  the  two  sections.  The  Canadian  born  element 
would  be  much  more  easily  reconciled  to  the  new  rule,  and 
it  is  very  probable  that  the  moderate  representations  spoken 
of  above,  which  refrain  from  laying  stress  on  the  preser- 
vation of  the  hierarchy,  were  inspired  solely  by  this 
element,  well  aware  that  the  continuance  of  that  hierarchy 
meant  in  all  probability  the  continuance  of  the  domination 
of  the  foreign  born  priest.  Gage,  in  his  report  from 
Montreal  in  1762,  speaks  of  this  division  of  interest  and  of 
the  necessity  of  detaching  the  Canadian  clergy   entirely 

1  llixt.  ilu  Can.,  II,  Ittfi.    (Quuboc,  Ism.) 


COFFIK — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7(J.  301 

from  France.  The  growth  of  a  native  priesthood  with 
feelings  not  always  in  harmony  with  the  old  government 
of  Church  or  State,  had  been  a  slow  one.  but  that  such  an 
element  was  now  firmly  established  there  can  be  no  doubt.' 
Up  to  the  conquest  the  scale  had  been  constantly  turned  in 
favour  of  the  French-born  element,  which,  according  to 
Cramahi's  regarded  the  Canadian  clergy  with  contempt.^ 
The  policy  of  the  new  government  may  be  seen  from  the 
statement  in  the  same  letter  that  the  French  clergy  were 
then  jealous  of  the  Canadian  as  likely  to  get  all  the 
benefices,  and  that  hence  the  French  were  in  favour  of  a 
change  which  the  Canadians  were  strongly  interested  to 
prevent. 

Whichever  element  was  uppermost  however,  and  by 
whatever  motives  it  may  have  been  inlluenced,  we  have 
no  indication  of  any  but  the  most  satisfactoi-y  behaviour 
throughout  this  period  on  the  part  of  the  Church  in 
Canada.  In  June,  on  the  conclusion  of  peace,  a  mandate 
was  issued  by  the  vicar  general  (the  highest  ecclesiastic 
remaining),  recommending  to  the  inhabitants  submission 
and  fidelity.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  we  meet  the 
general  addresses  already  spoken  of, '  which  seem  to  have 
been  called  forth  by  the  depleted  state  of  the  priesthood 
and  by  fear  lest  the  lack  of  a  bishop  should  leave  it  to  die 
out.  They  are  all  probably  inspired.  One  of  these  ad- 
dressee is  from  the  chapter  of  Quebec,  and  we  must  con 
elude  luat  the  moderation  of  the  demands  had  met  with  the 
approval  of  the  prevailing  portion  of  the  clergy.  It  ex- 
presses no  anxiety  for  a  continuance  of  priests  from 
Europe,  expressly  saying  on  the  contrary  that  those  edu- 
cated in  the  native  seminaries  would  be  more  patriotic,  more 
united,   and  less  exposed  to   new  opinion;'  and  that  they 

1  S<!0  Haldimaiui  to  Gormaiiio,  Si>|)t«':nbor  lltli,  1779.    Can.  Arch.,  B.  54,  p.  177. 
'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  160.    To  Hill.4)orough,  July  5,  1772. 

•  Abovp,  p.  2K1. 

*  The  potitiou  from  Throo  Rivers  dwells  mori  fully  oa  means  of  escaping  French  inflv.' 
ence  in  preijerving  the  clergy. 


302  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

(the  petitioners),  would  be  satisfied  with  a  merely  titular 
bishop  with  full  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  but  without  ex- 
terior dignity  or  compulsory  means  of  support.  It  is 
fully  evident  that  the  petitioners  are  sincere,  and  that  they 
aim  only  at  the  measures  necessary  to  preserve  their  edu- 
cational and  spiritual  position. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE   OF  QUEUEC,    1700-70.  303 


CHAPTER  TI. 
THE   BRITISH   SETTLERS. 

A.     Numbers,  Origin,  Ocaipafions,  Character. 

The  term  "old  subjects"  was  applied  during  this  period 
and  for  long  after  to  those  inhabitants  of  the  province  who 
had  been  subjects  of  Great  Britain  before  the  conquest, — 
i.  e.,  to  the  new  English-speaking  element  that  accom- 
panied or  followed  the  concjueror.  The  numerical  weight 
of  this  element  would  alone  hardly  entitle  it  to  considera- 
tion, for  at  no  time^during  the  period  did  it  in  all  proba- 
bility embrace  more  than  500  or  GOO  male  adults.  As  late 
as  1779  Haldimand  i-efers  roughly  to  the  non-Canadian 
population  as  2,000  in  number.  We  know,  however,  that 
there  was  some  exodus  from  the  province  in  1775-6,  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  maximum  number  of  English-speaking 
inhabitants  had  been  reached  soon  after  the  conclusion  of 
peace.  For  Carleton  writes,  November,  1767,  that  they  are 
diminishing,  being  discouraged  by  the  severe  climate  and 
the  poverty  of  the  country.'  But  notwithstanding  this  in- 
significant numerical  strength,  the  energj'  and  the  peculiar 
position  of  this  element  make  it  impossible  to  avoid  reckon- 
ing with  it. 

Presumably  these  "  old  subjects"  were  subjects  of  Great 
Britain  by  birth.  But  to  what  extent  they  had  previously 
been  resident  in  other  parts  of  America,  or  what  propor- 
tion of  them  was  American  born,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 
And  the  settlement  of  the  point  is  of  considerable  interest 
in  view  of  their  connection  later  with  the  American  revo- 
lutionists. We  are  safe  in  concluding  that  the  smaller 
portion  only  of  them  were  in  Canada  previous  to  the  con- 
clusion of   peace,    and    that    this   portion    was   the   least 

'  Report  Canadian  Archives,  18SS,  p.  43. 


304  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERalTV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

respectable  one,  and  composed  mainly  of  those  afterward 
spoken  of  with  contempt  by  the  provincial  officials  as 
sutlers  and  discharged  soldiers' — a  class  mainly  no  do'ibt 
of  European  birth.  As  to  the  remaining  and  larger  portion, 
the  scattered  references  that  we  have  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  mainly  born  in  the  British  Islands.  But 
some  of  them  had  doubtless,  for  shorter  or  longer  periods, 
been  resident  in  the  other  colonies  before  coming  to 
Quebec,  and  ii  few  were  American-born.  Whether  it  was 
that  the  portion  with  previous  colonial  experience  was 
more  enterprising  and  free-spoken  than  the  others,  we  find 
that  it  comes  to  stand  for  the  whole  in  the  official  mind. 
Knox,  in  his  "Justice  and  Policy  of  the  Quebec  Act,"  ■  evi- 
dently regards  the  British  subjects  in  Canada  as  having  all 
come  from,  or  being  all  identified  witii,  the  other  provinces; 
and  this  view  may  be  regarded  as  the  general  one  taken  in 
England.  We  have,  however,  among  the  Haldimand 
papers  a  careful  analysis  of  the  British  in  the  District  of 
Montreal,  17G5,  in  regard  to  birth  and  occupations,'  from 
which  we  learn  that  of  the  136  adult  males  there  at  that 
time,  98  were  born  in  the  British  Isles,  23  in  other  parts  of 
Europe,  and  12  in  the  American  colonies;  nothing  being 
said  as  to  residence  immediately  before  coming  to  Canada. 
But  there  are  many  indications  that  whether  this  analysis 
can  be  considered  as  representative  of  the  whole  body  or 
not,  the  more  politically  influential  of  the  new  settlers  were 
conversant  with  thoi  social  and  governmental  conditions  of 
the  other  colonies  to  a  degree  which  forces  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  knowledge  must  in  most  cases  have  been 
acquired  by  periods  of  considerable  residence.  In  the  first 
public  appearance  of  the  new  element  in  the  province  under 
civil  government — the  presentment  of  the  grand  jury  of 
October,  1704, —  we  find  frequent  references  to  the  judicial 

1  The  census  roport  of  1705  inoiitioned  below  givos  4;J  of  the  138  ia  the  Moutroul  district 
as  of  this  character, 
*  London,  1774. 
•Can.  Arch.,  B.  8,  p.  96. 


COFFIN — THE   I'UOVINCK  OK  gUKUEC,    ITHO-TO.  305 

conditions  of  the  other  colonies  such  as  would  occur  only 
to  those  who  were  rociillini;:  institutions  (peculiar  to  the 
colonies),  under  which  they  had  lived  and  to  which  they 
had  become  attached.'  Similar  evidence  appears  in  their 
remonstrance  a<?ainst  the  judiciary  ordinance  of  1770,-'  and 
in  some  commercial  rei)resentat ions  concerning?  the  English 
bankruptcy  laws  in  17t)7. '  Further  wo  have  particular  in- 
formation in  regard  to  individuals  who  later  became  note- 
worthy for  open  sympathy  with  the  revolutionary  cause, 
and  tind  that  they  are  nearly  all  of  Americm  birth  or  of 
American  political  education.  A  list  "of  the  principal 
persons  settled  in  the  province  who  very  zealously  served 
the  rebels  in  the  winter  1775  6 "  *  names  28  individuals,  of 
whom  only  7  are  of  non- American  birth.  In  this  list  we 
find  the  names  of  many  of  the  main  leaders  in  the  political 
movements  just  previous  to  the  Quebec  Act.  It  is  evident 
in  short  that  the  most  determined  and  outspoken  sec- 
tion among  the  new  settlers  were  American  by  birth  or 
adoption,  and  it  is  probable  that  that  portion  was,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  whole,  a  small  one.  This  will  be  shown  more 
fully  later  when  I  speak  of  political  movements.  That  a 
distinction  could  be  made,  and  was  made  by  the  provincial 
officials,  is  shown  by  a  reference  of  Carleton  to  the  scale  of 
duties  lately  adopted  as  being  approved  by  "  both  Canadian 
and  English  merchants,  the  colonists  excepted."  ^ 

The  new  English-speaking  population  seems  to  have  been 
practically  all  resident  in  the  towns  of  Quebec  and  Mon- 
treal. Its  main  occupation  was  trade, —  a  trade  which  had 
the  fur  traffic  for  its  backbone.  Many  of  its  members  are 
asserted  by  their  detractors  to  have  come  to  Canada  be- 
cause they  had  failed  everywhere  else,  but  the  fact  that 
Canada  offered  exceptional  advantages  for   the   fur  trade 


iCan.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  pp.  2;«-63. 
"Can.  Arch.,  Q.  7,  p.  95. 
'  Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  248. 
,     <Can.  Arch.,  Q.  13,  p.  106. 

»  Dec.  21, 1767.  (Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  300.)     See  also  to  Dartmouth,  November  11, 1774. 
(Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  11.) 


30G  nULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

affords  a  more  creditable  explanation.  Many  were  mere 
agents  for  English  firms;  some,  especially  of  the  discharged 
soldiers,  became  small  retailers  of  liquor.  So  averse  were 
they  to  land  occupation,  at  least  on  the  terms  first  offered, 
that  the  lands  set  apart  for  the  discharged  soldiery  were 
in  few  cases  taken  up.  But  they  took  with  considerable 
avidity  to  the  acquiring  of  seigniories  when  that  form  of 
grant  was  re-established,'  and  Hillsboroii<7h,  April  18, 
1772,  writes  that  he  is  pleased  to  find  "  that  so  great  a 
spirit  of  cultivation  of  the  waste  lands  in  the  colony  has 
spread  itself  among  His  Majesty's  natural  born  subjects." 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  by  the  end  of  the  period  they 
had  come  into  possession  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
seigneurial  estates  of  the  province;-  but  there  is  no  proba- 
bility that  they  at  this  time  settled  down  on  these  estates 
in  any  permanent  manner.  They  undoubtedly  continued  to 
be  identified  with  the  towns,  and  it  is  sufficiently  correct 
for  all  purposes  to  regard  their  connection  with  Canada  as 
caused  and  continued  either  by  commercial  interests'  or  by 
situations  held  under  government. 

As  to  the  character  of  this  new  element  we  are  unfortun- 
ately dependent  almost  entirely  upon  the  testimony  of 
its  bitterest  enemies.  The  causes  of  this  enmity  will  be 
moi*e  fully  apparent  later;  the  fact  is  that  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  civil  government  the  provincial  adminis- 
trators and  the  "  old  subjects  "  were  in  direct  and  for  the 
most  part  bitter  antagonism.  The  latter  claimed  that  they 
had  come  into  the  country  in  reliance  on  the  Proclamation  of 
1763,  which  they  considered  contained  a  distinct  promise 
of  the  establishment  in  Canada  of  the  forms  of  government 
and  the  system  of  law  that  prevailed  in  the  other  colonies; 
consequently  they  maintained  a  hostile  attitude  to  the 
system  in  operation,  as  purely  provisional,  and  impatiently 

1  Seo  olsowhore  concerning  land  grants. 

^  See  Evidence,  Quebec  Act  Debates.    Also  MasSres,  especially  with  regard  to  Eng- 
lish petitions  and  memorials  for  an  Assembly,  1773. 
«  See  Carleton,  Rep.  Can.  Arch.,  1890,  p.  1. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUF-nEC,    17(30-70.  o07 

dem anded  the  fulfillment  of  the  asserted  pledges.  The  gov- 
ernors on  the  other  hand  had  speedily  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  such  changes  would  be  most  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  country,  and  would  imperil  its  possession; 
and  they  consequently  regarded  with  no  favourable  eye  the 
turbulent  little  body  which  seemed  to  be  aiming  at  the 
same  licentiousness  as  (in  the  official  opinion),  prevailed  in 
the  other  colonies.  It  is  the  same  antagonism  that  we  see 
contemporaneously  in  these  other  colonies,  increased  ten- 
fold by  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  province.  Race 
and  social  prejudices,  and  collisions  between  the  civil  and 
military  elements,  complicated  the  situation  and  intensified 
the  opposition  of  the  British  trading  community  to  the  old 
French  military  system  and  its  favorers.  And  in  view  of 
these  facts  we  must  take  with  caution  the  assertions  of  the 
governors,  who,  just  as  they  erroneously  looked  upon  the 
noblesse  as  the  true  representatives  of  tlie  Canadians,  seem 
to  have  indiscriminately  classed  together  the  whole  old 
subject  body  as  turbulent  and  republican,  and  bent  on 
nothing  but  the  oppressing  of  the  French  population  and 
the  acquiring  of  gain.  That  there  were  individual 
instances  to  which  they  could  point  in  support  of  this  view 
cannot  be  denied;  nor  can  we  doubt  that  the  British  ele- 
ment throughout  the  most  of  the  period  might  well  present 
to  the  harassed  official  an  intolerant  and  unconciliatory  at- 
titude. But  a  scrutiny  of  the  evidence  will  show  that  the 
constant  official  censure  was  to  a  large  degree  unjust  and 
undiscerning,  and  that  the  British  party  in  the  Province  of 
Quebec  deserved  very  much  more  consideration  from  the 
authorities  than  it  received.  The  matter  is  of  importance 
from  other  grounds  than  those  of  historical  justice.  For 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  incorrect  ideas  that 
swayed  the  official  mind  on  this  point  were  one  of  the  main 
agencies  in  the  genesis  of  the  Quebec  Act  = 

Murray's  expressions  of  dislike  for  his  fellow-country- 
men seem  to  date  from  the  grand  jury  presentment  of  1764, 


308  BULLETIN    OK    TIIK    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

when  he  writes  home  of  the  "licentious  fanatics  trading 
here,"  whom  nothing  will  satisfy  except  "the  expulsion  of 
the  Canadians."'  The  following  March  3,  he  says  that 
the  merchants  "  are  eliiclly  adventurers  of  mean  educa- 
tion, either  young  beginners,  or,  if  old  traders,  such  as 
had  failed  in  other  countries;  all  have  their  fortunes  to 
make  and  are  little  solicitous  about  the  means."-'  August 
20,  1766,  after  he  had  left  the  jn-ovince,  ho  writes  of  the 
party  which  had  procured  his  recall,  that  "most  of  them 
are  followers  of  the  army,  of  mean  education,  or  soldiers 
disbanded  at  the  reduction  of  the  troops;"  and  adds.  "I 
report  tuom  to  bo  in  general  the  most  immoral  collection  of 
men  I  ever  knew."'  This  rei)resentation  is  evidently 
little  to  be  regarded.  Carleton,  though  no  particular  friend 
of  Murray,  seems,  however,  to  have  at  once  assumed  the 
same  attitude  toward  the  old  subject,  and  probably  with 
more  confidence,  as  knowing  that  the  home  government 
was  not  at  all  likely  to  gratify  their  wishes.  As  with 
Murray,  his  military  training  prejudiced  him  in  favor  of 
the  old  system  and  of  the  military  noblesse,  to  both  of 
which  the  English  element  was  bitterly  opposed.  Novem- 
ber 25,  1767,*  he  describes  the  old  subjects  as  having 
"  been  mostly  left  here  by  accident,  and  are  either  dis- 
banded officers,  soldiers,  or  followers  of  the  army,  who, 
not  knowing  how  to  dispose  of  themselves  elsewhere, 
settled  where  they  were  left  at  the  reduction;  or  else  they 
are  adventurers  in  trade,  or  such  as  could  not  remain  at 
home,  who  set  out  to  mend  their  fortunes  at  the  opening 
of  this  new  channel  of  commerce,"  and  adds  that  they  have 
for  the  most  part  not  succeeded,  and  are  abandoning  the 
province.  March  28,  1770,"'  he  writes  in  regard  to  the 
necessity  he  has  been  under  of  taking  from  the  justices  of 

'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  v.  •£». 


"lb.,  p.  :t77. 

'Can.  Arcli.,  B.  H,p.  1. 

*  liej).  Can.  Arrli.,  18.\S,  p.  42. 

'^Jitp.  Can.  Arch.,  ISUO,  p.  1. 


COFFIN— TliK   PROVINCE  OF   QUEIJEC,    ITfiO-TC.  309 

the  peace  their  jurisdiction  in  civil  cases,  on  account  of  the 
oppressive  methods  of  many  of  them,  and  proceeds  to  ex- 
plain what  these  methods  were:  saying  that  those  who  had 
failed  in  business  sought  the  office  in  order  to  make  it  a 
means  of  extortion,  and  had  therein  very  grievously  taken 
advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  the  people.     This  oppression 
seems  to  have  been  for  a  short  time  a  real  grievance,  and 
has  been  considered  one  of  the  principal  proofs  of  the  evil 
character  of  the  English  element;  but  a  closer  examination 
will  show  that  in  that  view  it  has  been  exaggerated.     For 
it  was  such  as  hardly  could  have  been  practiced  by  any 
but  justices  in  the   remoter  parts  of   the  province,  or  at 
least  by  those  in  the  country  districts,  and  I  have  shown 
above  that  very  few  of  the  English  were  settled  outside  of 
the  towns.     So  that  it  must  have  been  confined  to  about  a 
dozen  individuals,'  and  cannot  possibly  be  taken  as  any  in- 
dication of  the  general  character  of  the  English-speaking 
settlers.     The  matter  is  simply  an  instance  of  the  careless 
grouping  and  indiscriminate  judgments   of  the  period,  or 
'  possibly  of  intentional  misrepresentation  in  order  to  preju- 
dice the  case  of  the  old   subject  in  the  eyes  of  the   home 
government.     That  this  result  was  attained  may  be  seen  in 
the  writings  of  the  pamphleteers  who  defended  tho  Quebec 
Act,  as  well  as  in  the  arguments  of   its  supporters  in  the 
Commons. 

B.     PoUthal  AttitwJe. 

What  the  political  attitude  of  the  English  party  was  may 
be  easily  gathered  from  the  foregoing.  Whether  or  not 
accustomed  to  the  greater  self-government  of  the  Araeric-in 
colonies  we  find  the  whole  body  strongly  imbued  with  a 
certain  degree  of  the  American  spirit  and  determined  to 
lose  no  oi)portunity  of  pressing  their  claims  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  English   law   and    an    Assembly.     They  con- 


'  Thp  list  of  justictis  i>f  tlm  ix!aco  for  tin*  whole  province  us  first  appointed,  included 
t)iily  tweiity-tlirt'c  iianics,  of  wIkuii  most  were  rosidfiit  in  tlic  towns.    Sec  p.  ;tl2,  note  1. 


310  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVEHSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

tended   throughout    that  the  promises  of   the   Proclama- 
tion of    1763  on  these   points  had  been   among  the    main 
inducements   to   tlie  taking  up  of  their  residence    in  the 
province;  and  in  season  and  out  of  season,  without  regard 
to  tlie  difficulties  in  the  way  either  from  the  original  con- 
stitution of  the  province  or  from  the  hazardous  nature  of 
the  British  hold  on  it,  they  pressed  their  demands  on  the 
home  government  and  refused  any  tolerance  to  the  existing 
provisional  arrangements.     So  that  at  first  sight  it  would 
appear   (as  has   generally  been  represented),   that  in   Ihe 
pressing  of  these  demands   the  party   showed  throughout 
a  factious  and  intolerant  spirit,  and  gave  little  evidence  of 
political    forethought,    or  of  consideration  either   for  the 
Canadians  or  for  the  difficult  position  of  the  administration. 
As  to  political  forethought  they  mustbe  judged  mainly  on  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  later  events,  with  regard  to  the 
question  as  to  how  far   they  were   justified   in   their  con- 
tention that  the  English  system  of  law  and  government,  so 
far  as  they  claimed  it,  would  not  really  be  objectionable  or 
injurious  lo  the  mass  of  the  people.     As  to  the  intolerance 
and  inconsiderateuess  of  their  attitude,  we  must  guard  as 
before    against    indiscriminate  grouping;    and    it   will   be 
found  moreover  that  the  evidence  on  these  heads  is  confined 
to   the  early  years  of   tlie  period.     A  comparison    of  the 
names  appended  to  the  various  petitions  and  other  public 
manifestations  of  the  time  with  what  appears  later  as  to 
the    individuals    who   espoused    the    revolutionary    cause, 
shows  that   these  manifestations   were  the  voice  really  of 
that  small  section  which,  chiefly  American-born,  was  most 
thoroughly  permeated  with  American  ideas,  and  which  kept 
itself  in  touch  with  the  movements  on  the  other  side  of  the 
border.     The   bulk  of  the   party,   English-born,  slower  of 
comprehension,  and  less  used  to  American  self-government, 
more  or  I  js  acquiesed   :n  the  movements  of  the   bolder 
spirits,  partly  on  general  principles  of  popular  leadership, 
liartly  becau&e  they  had  a  common  ground  in  their  desire 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  311 

for,  and  anticipation  of  English  laws  and  governmental 
forms.'  Hence,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  cannot  trace 
any  definite  dividing  line'  between  the  English-born  and 
the  colonists  until  the  actual  resort  to  arms  drove  the 
leaders  into  the  arms  of  the  revolutionists.  In  connection 
with  this  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  public  man- 
ifestation of  the  British  party  was  the  most  violent  and 
outspoken,  supporting  tlierein  the  idea  that  it  was  repre- 
sentative of  the  views  of  the  American  element  when  that 
element  had  in  freshest  remembrance  the  forms  they  were 
attached  to  and  had  hoped  to  bring  with  them  into  Canada. 
These  hoi)es  had  been  disapi)ointed  by  the  passing  of  the 
judiciary  ordinance  of  September  17,  1764,  which,  though 
afterwards  condemned  by  those  w^ho  supported  the  con- 
f  tinuance  of  the  old  system  as  having  aimed  at  the  complete 
i  overturning  thereof,  seemed  to  the  English  party  a  very 
[  partial  and  unsatisfactory  measure.  Accordingly,  at  the 
I  general  quarter  sessions  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  held 
at  Quebec  in  the  following  month,  the  fourteen  English 
who  were  summoned  (together  with  seven  French),  as  a 
grand  jury,  seized  the  occasion  to  express  in  no  measured 
tones  their  deep  disappointment  and  disapproval.'  The 
main  presentment  began  (in  dii-ect  contempt  of  court),  by 
condemning    the   late   ordinance  in  regard   to  the   power 

'  It  is  not  probabli"  tlint  tliH  claim  of  Kt^iioral  reprosontittivc  powers  put  forward  in 
1701  on  behalf  of  tlio  tfrand  jury,  (discussod  bolow),  was  seriously  entortainod  except  by  a 
.    few  of  the  hol(li:-rsi>irits ;  but  tho  attitude  of  protest  and  disappointment  was  evidently 
larpely  shared,  even  by  those  vthose  later  actions  wore  much  more  moderate.    For  in  the 
I    evidence  connected  with  aii  investipration  in  17W  into  the  susiwnsion  by  Murray  of  a 
I    public  otiicial,  oneof  thechariros  against  whom  was  that  ho  had  been  prominent  in  this 
j.    grand  jury  movement,  we  find  a  comparatively  numerously  signed  letter  of  thanks  to 
I    the  jniy  from  their  Endisb  fellow-countrymen  in  Quelx,>c,  which  states  that  the  signors 
consider  tlie  jury  "as  yet  the  only  body  representative  of  this  district,"  and  that  in  re- 
Bard  to  the  diRression  from  usual  form  in  the  procoediuKs,  "the  want  of  a  General  As- 
sembly in  the  province  sufliciently  justifies  your  conduct  to  the  public."     (Can.  Arch., 
Q.  ri-2,  pp.  t)::9-«9.) 
I       '^Thouffh  see  Carleton's  reference  above  to  the  ditTerence  of  opinion   in  regard  to 
y    customs  duties.    S.'o  also  Carloton  to  IliUsborougb,  April  25,  1770,  concerning  the  re- 
fusal of  the  majority  of  the  old  subject.s  to  take  the  steps  urged  by  the  more  violent 
concerning  the  judiciary  ordinance  of  that  year.     (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  7,  p.  89  ) 
» Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  212. 


312  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

given  to  the  justices  and  to  the  number  and  incapacity  of 
these  officials,'  and  expressed  a  determination  never  again 
under  the  system  complained  of,  to  act  as  jurors.  It  then 
proceeded  to  make  the  very  remarkable  claim  on  behalf  of 
the  signers  as  grand  jurors  that  they  "  must  be  considered 
at  present  as  the  only  body  representative  of  the  colony, " 
and  therefore  "as  British  subjects  have  a  right  to  be  con- 
sulted before  any  ordinance  that  may  affect  the  body  they 
represent  be  passed  into  law;"  furthermore  demanding  that 
"the  public  accounts  should  be  laid  before  the  grand 
jurors  at  least  twice  a  year,  to  be  examined  and  checked 
by  them,  and  that  they  may  be  regularly  settled  every  six 
months  before  them."  This  claim  '  shows  that  while  con- 
sidering the  existing  government  as  only  provisional,  they 
could  not  grasp  the  fact  that  as  British  subjects  they  were 
even  under  it  to  be  excluded  from  some  form  of  the  self- 
government  they  had  been  accustomed  to.     The  fourteen 

'  It  is  noteworthy  that  this  condenination  wks  lator  abundantly  justifipd  by  the  com- 
plaints as  to  the  ill-working  of  this  provision  and  the  revokiuK  of  it  by  the  ordinance  of 
1770.  Here  we  find  the  representutives  of  tlio  English  party  stronnly  con(luninin*<  at  its 
initiation  a  measure  the  ill-workiuK  of  which  was  afterwards  used  as  a  weapon  of  re- 
proach against  that  party. 

'  Which  they  do  not  attempt  to  fortify  witli  any  precedent  from  the  otiier  colonies, 
though  freipiontly  briuKinn  suciiou other  points.  I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  direct 
connection  between  this  incident  and  contemporary  events  in  tlie  otiier  colonies,  but 
the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  some  such  must  have  exist<'d.  Hy  June,  1764,  it  was 
known  in  America  that  firenville  had  jfiveu  notice  of  tlie  Stamp  Act,  and  that  a  bill 
had  been  passed  increasing  customs  duties.  Before  tlie  end  of  the  month  Otis  and  otiiers 
had  formed  a  commiUee  for  intercolonial  correspondence  and  resistance.  Popular  at- 
tention throughout  tlie  summer  luul  become  more  and  more  concentrated  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  in  September  the  New  York  Assembly  had  boldly  claimed  for  the  iMjople  "that 
jfreat  badge  of  English  liberty,  the  being  taxed  only  with  their  own  consent."  (Ban- 
croft, III,  >S9.)  Of  course,  the  Quebec  movement  was  as  yet  fully  taken  uj)  witli  a  stage 
beyond  wliich  the  other  colonies  had  long  passed.  And  we sliall  se<' later  that  it  was 
not  likely  to  get  beyond  tliat  stage  witli  the  bulk  of  tliepi»rty.  Tliougli  it  is  to  bo  noted 
that  Cramahe  writes  in  July,  1774,  (to  Dartmouth,  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  10.  p.  79),  tliat  "His 
Majesty's  subjects  in  this  province,  tlio'  collected  from  all  parts  of  Ids  oxl  msive  domin- 
ions, have  in  general,  at  least  such  as  intend  remisining  in  the  country,  adopted  .Vmer- 
ican  ideas  in  regard  to  taxation,  and  a  report  transmitted  from  one  of  their 
correspondents  in  Britain  that  a  duty  upon  spirits  was  inteuded  to  be  raised  here  by 
authority  of  Parliament,  was  a  principal  cause  of  setting  tliem  upon  petitions  for  an  as- 
sembly." It  connection  with  this  see  following  pages  in  regard  to  the  revenue  trials 
and  the  Stump  Act. 


COFFIN THE   PROVINCE  OF   QUEBEC,    17t!0-7G.  313 

English  jurors  alone  also  presented  an  additional  article 
protesting  against  the  admitting  of  Roman  Catholics  on 
juries  or  to  the  professions  as  "  an  open  violation  of  our 
most  sacred  laws  and  liberties,  "  and  tending  to  the  inse- 
curity of  the  province. 

The  next  appearance  of  these  remonstrants  is  in  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Quebec  British  traders  against  Murray  in  1765, 
signed  by  twenty-one  names,'  the  signers  claiming  to  act 
on  behalf  of  their  fellow-subjects.  The  friction  between 
the  party  and  Murray  seems  to  have  steadily  increased  in 
the  intervening  year  and  finally  had  resulted  in  this  repre- 
sentation, which  was  later  thought  to  have  procured  the 
governor's  recall.  It  began  ■  by  stating  that  the  connection 
of  most  of  the  petitioners  with  the  country  dated  "from 
the  surrender  of  the  colony,"  goes  on  to  represent  the 
conduct  of  the  governor  and  the  measures  of  government 
as  oppressive  and  injurious,  threatens  removal  from  the 
country  in  case  of  non-red  ress,  and  ends  by  requesting  the 
establishment  of  a  house  of  representatives  "  to  be  chosen 
in  this  as  in  other  Your  Majesty's  provinces,  there  being 
a  number  more  than  sufficient  of  loyal  and  well-affected 
Protestants,  exclusive  of  military  ofticers;"  the  Canadians 
to  be  "  allowed  to  elect  Protestants, "  without  the  burden  of 
test  oaths.  The  demand  for  an  assembly  reappears  with 
more  or  less  distinctness  all  through  the  period;  though 
while  Carleton  remained  in  the  province  his  decidedly  dis- 
couraging attitude  seems  to  have  prevented  any  very 
united  movement.  But  resentment  at  the  withholding  of 
representative  institutions  appears  to  be  the  main  moving 
cause  in  a  very  determined  stand  by  the  English  mercantile 
class  after  1766  against  the  collection  of  the  old  French 
customs  duties.  In  accordance  with  legal  opinion  as  to  the 
reversion  to  the  crown  of  all  sources  of  revenue  possessed 
by  the  French  government,  the  imperial  authorities  had  in 

'  Einht  of  thi>s«  were  amouK  tlio  fourteen  Knt;liali  juror.-t  iu  17tJ4. 
'  Hip.  V<ni.  Aich.,  ISSS,  p.  U. 


314  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK    WISCONSIN. 

17G5  ordered  the  above  collection,  and  July  21,  1766,  a 
provincial  proclamation  was  issued  setting  forth  the  duties 
and  the  ground  on  which  they  were  claimed.'  A  few  days 
later  it  is  reported  officially  that  the  merchants  "  will  not 
pay  their  duties  unless  otherwise  compelled."  Some  of 
them  were  accordingly  i)rosecuted  in  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench  before  a  jury  composed  entirely  of  English,  and 
which  the  Chief  Justice  charged  to  bring  in  only  a  special 
verdict  as  to  the  facts,  leaving  to  a  higher  court  the  point 
of  law  -'  as  to  whether  the  Engli.sh  crown  had  become  by  the 
conquest  and  cession  entitled  to  the  old  French  duties. 
But  the  jury,  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  recalcitrant 
merchants,  refused  to  be  restricted  in  this  way,  and  brought 
in  a  general  verdict  of  acquittal.  Another  suit  shortly 
afterwards  had  the  same  result,  and  all  eft'orts  to  collect 
the  duties  seem  then  to  have  been  dropped  for  two  years.  ■ 
In  the  fall  of  17()8,  however,  after  an  action  in  the  British 
Common  Pleas  against  Murray,  in  which  the  principle  of  the 
King's  right  to  these  duties  was  accepted  without  question, 
the  commissioners  of  the  treasury  resolved  to  make  an- 
other attempt,  and  instituted  prosecutions  anew.  The  issue 
was  the  same,  however,  though  ^Masures  (who  was  the 
prosecuting  attorney),  acknowledges  that  the  jury  "con- 
sisted of  some  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants  of 
Quebec,  and  of  such  as  were  most  moderate  in  their  prin- 
ciples and  dis]oosition."  Writing  in  1774  lie  says  that  it 
may  be  seen  from  these  trials  that  these  duties  can  never 
be  collected  in  tlie  Quebec  courts;  from  which  we  m-iy 
infer  that  no  further  attempt  was  made  to  collect  them 
during  the  period.' 

The  ground  of  this  determined  resistance  is  nowhere 
clearly  stated,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was 
mainly  inspired  by  some  portion  of  the  spirit  then  agitat- 

'Cau.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  877. 

'Cullod  by  him  "very  new  and  difficult." 

•  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  pp.  254.  400. 

*  See  Masfires,  Commissions,  pp.  288-311. 


COFFIN— THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7G.  315 

ing  the  other  colonies.  In  a  letter  shortly  before  the  later 
trials  Carleton  states  that  the  merchants  based  their  oppo- 
sition on  the  ground  that  the  duties  demanded  were  not 
quite  the  same  as  the  French;'  but  that  the  real  question 
was  much  broader  is  shown  by  the  argument  for  the  Crown 
of  MasC-res,  the  attorney  general,  (reported  by  himself). 
In  it  he  contends  that  "whatever  might  have  been  asserted 
to  the  contrary,  in  order  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the 
people  and  prejudice  the  minds  of  the  jury  against  these 
duties,  the  king  by  them  did  not  mean  to  exert  any  pre- 
rogative of  imposing  taxes  by  his  own  single  authority  and 
without  the  consent  either  of  a  provincial  Assembly  or  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  whole  British  Empire, "  and 
that  therefore  the  requisition  did  not  endanger  the  public 
liberty  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  privileges  they  claimed 
"  either  as  English  in  general  or  under  the  proclamation 
of  October,  1763,  by  which  His  ^Majesty  had  promised  them 
the  enjoyment  of  the  beueflt  of  the  laws  of  England."  -'  The 
attorney  general  is  here  attempting  to  remove  the  preju- 
dice of  a  jury  which  was  of  the  same  class  —  the  English 
trading  class,— as  tlie  accused,  and  it  is  evident  that  he 
perceived  that  whatever  the  special  plea  put  forward,  the 
ojiposition  was  founded  on  the  general  claim  of  being 
English  subjects,  entitled  to  the  operation  of  English  laws 
and  principles.  It  woukl  seem  also  as  if  the  spirit  of  oppo- 
sition as  expressed  on  the  point  had  been  steadily  growing; 
for  Carleton  had  written,  December  24,  1767,  that  he  was 
almost  certain  that  a  revenue  would  soon  be  raised  from 
the  customs  sufficient  to  meet  all  expenso>  of  government, 
and  that  "  both  Canadian  and  English  merchants,  the 
colonists  excepted,"  were  willing  to  pay  much  higher 
duties  than  those  he  was  then  proposing.'  Maseres"  de- 
scription of  the  jury  in  the  trials   of  1769  shows  that  it 

'  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  6,  p.  65,-May  10,  1769. 
'  Commissions,  pp.  mW-$. 
3  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  p    :il6. 


316  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

could  not  have  been  composed  of  these  "  colonists, "  and 
therefore  we  must  conclude  that  either  Carleton  had  de- 
ceived himself  in  1767,  or  that  the  "colonist"  spirit  had  on 
this  point  taken  possession  even  of  the  "Canadian  and  Eng- 
lish merchants." 

This  phase  of  the  subject  is  the  more  interesting  taken 
in  connection  with  the  undeniable  acquiescence  of  the 
province  in  the  Stamp  Act  shortly  before.'  For  leaving 
out  a  very  small  circle  no  opposition  to  this  Act  sufficiently 
strong  to  send  its  voice  down  to  us  seems  to  have  been 
made  in  Quebec  or  in  Nova  Scotia.^  That  it  had  been  put 
regularly  into  operation  is  shown  by  the  proclamation 
announcing  its  repeal,  which  says  that  "  whereas  many 
persons  in  publick  office  and  others  may  at  present  have 
stampt  paper  and  parchment  that  has  not  been  made  use 
of  '  they  will  be  reimbursed  for  the  same. '  But  no  state- 
ment can  be  found  of  any  revenue  from  the  tax,  and  it  is 
most  probable  that  the  "  resistance  passive  "  which  Garneau 
attributes  to  the  province*  went  far  enough  to  reduce  the 
receipts  to  a  very  small  sum.  That  the  section  of  the 
English  party  known  as  "the  colonists"  had  made  their 
voice  heard  against  the  act  is  shown  by  a  reference  of 
Carleton's,   October  25th,    1766,'*    and   by   a   statement  of 

'  The  Sranip  Act  was  in  forco  in  Quh1x>c  appareutly  from  November  1,  176.'),  to  May  28, 
1766. 

'■'With  rcKJird  to  Novo  Scotia  some  (locnmi'iits'from  a  Intor  poriod  may  horo  1)«  riv 
forred  to.  In  I  AmiTirttn  Archives  (III.  619),  wt>  finci  a  Wliitt-liall  miMiiorundum  dated 
Sept<»mber  1,  1775,  that  on  tliat  day  His  Majesty  liad  graciously  received  an  address 
from  tho  Hoiiso  iii  Roprcsoiitatives  of  Nova  Scotia,  containing  a  declaration  of  en- 
tire submission  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Hritisli  Parliament  and  of  readiness  to 
pay  taxes  fixed  by  it,  to  heat  its  disposal.  This  loyal  document,  liowevor,  is  followed 
(III.  ~iV*))  by  a  letter  from  Halifax  dated  September  2:J,  177,5,  which  says  that  tho  above 
address  repre,spnts  only  about  one-thousandth  of  the  inhabitant.s  of  tho  province,  and 
Lad  been  procured  when  most  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were  absent ;  further,  that 
owiuK  to  universal  sympatliy  witli  the  rt^volutionists  no  duties  huii  Ix'en  paid  since 
AuKust  last,  that  some  tons  of  tea  arrived  tlie  day  before  had  boon  thrown  into  the  sea, 
and  that  the  revolutionary  forces  at  Boston  had  been  continually  supplied  from  Nova 
Hcotia  with  fresli  provisions. 

M'an.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  .V22. 

* iiiu.  (till., n,:m. 

'Can.  Arch.,  Q. :),  p.  2.')9. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OP  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  317 

M  rray,  August  20th,  1766,  (iu  regard  to  the  Canadians), 
that  "tho'  stimulated  to  dispute  it  by  some  of  the  licen- 
tious traders  from  New  York  they  cheerfully  obeyed  the 
Stamp  Act,  in  hopes  that  their  good  behaviour  would  recom- 
mend them  to  the  favour  and  protection  of  their  sovereign. " ' 
Previously  (February  14,  1776,  while  the  act  was  yet  unre- 
pealed), the  governor  had  reported  that  "His  Majesty's 
subjects  in  this  province  have  not  followed  the  example  of 
the  neighbouring  colonies,  but  have  cheerfully  submitted  to 
the  authority  of  the  British  legislature. "  -  On  the  arrival  of 
Carleton  in  September,  1766,  an  address  presented  to  him 
from  the  combined  English  and  French  inhabitants  of  the 
city  and  district  of  Quebec  expresses  "  the  most  profound 
and  submissive  reverence  to  the  legislative  authority  of  the 
British  parliament,  of  which  we  lately  gave  a  public  ..ml 
signal  proof  by  an  immediate  and  universal  obedience  to 
the  Stamp  Act." '  Lastly,  the  argument  which  1  have  quoted 
from  the  attorney-general  in  the  revenue  trials  of  1769 
shows  conclusively  that  the  class  he  was  trying  to  influence 
(i.  e.  the  main,  more  moderate  body  of  the  English  trading 
class),  was  not  supposed  to  doubt,  and  therefore  could  not 
have  made  any  fundamental  objection  to,  the  full  legislative 
authority  over  the  province  of  the  British  parliament.* 
This  class  then  we  may  suppose  to  have  acquiesced  grumb- 
lingly  in  the  Stamp  Act,  while  the  smaller  section  of 
American  birth  or  training  had  no  doubt  vigorously  pro- 
tested against  it.  As  to  the  Canadians,  the  compliant 
voice  of  the  address  to  Carleton  doubtless  represents  cor- 
rectly the  attitude  of  those  affected;  but  there  is  no  ground 


I  Can.  Arch.,  B.  S,  p.  1. 

nbid.,Q.a,  p.  26. 

'Ibid.,  p.  :U4. 

*  Of  course  it  must  bo  rt>uiomb(>n>(l  tliat  as  tho  province  had  no  assembly  the  same  ob- 
jection could  not  be  made  to  such  a  claim  as  iu  the  other  provinces  (see  i).  ;il2,  notxi  2). 
The  matter  therefore  stands  on  a  somewhat  ditTerent  footing.  It  .seoma,  however,  very 
probable  that  the  Stamp  Act  a^itatiou  in  the  other  colonies,  and  its  success,  had  con- 
siderable influonco  iu  emboldonin«  tho  Quebec  raerchantd  to  the  stout  resistance  lator 
to  the  revenue  dutiiw. 


318  HULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVKRSITV    OP  WISCON'SIN. 

to  su])pose  that  any  attention  was  paid  to  the  Act  by  the 
mass  of  the  French  Canadian  people.  But  few  of  these 
could,  in  its  brief  life,  have  even  become  aware  of  its  ex- 
istence; for,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  the  habitant  at  this 
time  very  slightly  availed  himself  of  English  legal  forms 
or  courts. 

In  the  spring  of  1770  the  British  element  again  appears 
in  strong  opposition  to  the  government  in  regard  to  the 
ordinance  of  February  1,  1770,  which  on  account  of  the  op- 
pressive conduct  of  some  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  took 
away  from  the  whole  body  all  power  in  matters  that 
affected  private  property,  and  instituted  for  the  protection 
of  creditors  methods  which  were  considered  by  the  mer- 
chants as  unsatisfactory  and  precarious  and  likely  to  afl'ect 
the  credit  of  the  province.  The  memorial  in  which  the  ob- 
jections of  the  merchant  body  were  expressed  is  evidently 
what  it  purports  to  be,  a  document  almost  entirely  dictated 
by  commercial  considerations;  and  though  the  action  of  the 
governtnent  was  justitiable  and  the  ordinance  in  question 
probably  necessary,  I  cannot  look  upon  this  movement  of 
its  opponents  as  of  the  purely  factious  and  oppressive 
origin  attributed  to  it  by  Carle  ton.  In  the  same  year  we 
have  the  outcome  of  a  movement  spoken  of  by  Garleton  in 
1768,'  in  another  petition  for  a  general  assembly,  which 
they  claim  in  part  as  promised  in  the  proclamation  of  17G3, 
and  in  part  becau.se  necessary  to  arrest,  the  declining  state 
of  the  province  and  m^ake  it  really  of  benefit  to  the  empire. 
The  assembly  is  still  contemplated  as  being  composed  only 
of  Protestants,  (nothing  being  said  as  to  the  qualifications 
of  t^lectors).  the  petitioners  asserting  as  in  1765  that  "  there 
is  now  a  sufficient  number  of  your  Majesty's  Protestant 
subjects  residing  in  and  possessed  of  real  property  in  this 
province,  and  who  are  otherwise  qualified  to  be  members  of 
a  general  assembly;"  which  they  pray  shall  therefore  be 

1  Ho  write.",  January  20,  that  the  agitation  for  an  assembly  which  he  thouRlithad 
beeu  (Iropiiod  a  year  before,  has  been  resumed,  the  lendors  being  "essed  on  by  lctto»s 
from  lionie."     (Q.  5-1,  370.) 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17C0-7(».  319 

called  "in  such  manner  as  is  used  in  those  provinces  in 
America  under  your  Majesty's  government."  (signed  by  31 
names).'  Carleton  left  for  England  about  the  same  time, 
and  this  stop  was  probably  intended  to  counteract  the 
effect  of  his  presence  at  home.  For  the  following  three 
years  quiet  seems  to  have  reigned  in  the  province,  the 
British  element  applying  itself  energetically  to  the  acquire- 
ment of  landed  property.  As  the  home  government,  how- 
ever, came  more  unmistakeably  nearer  to  the  adoption  of 
decisive  measures  in  regard  to  Canadian  affairs,  the 
political  energies  of  the  party  revived,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence we  have  tlae  very  united  and  vigorous  petitions  of 
1773  (October-January)  for  an  assembly.-  According  to 
Cramah6 '  the  leaders  of  the  old  subjects  sedulously  at- 
tempted to  induce  the  French  to  co-operate,  and  MasCres 
relates  that  the  negotiations  wore  broken  off  in  conse- 
quence of  a  refusal  of  the  Englisli  to  insert  in  the  joint 
petition  a  specific  request  that  the  assembly  might  be  com- 
posed of  Protestants  and  Catliolics  alike,  with  more  or  less 
of  a  preponderance  secured  to  tho  latter.'  The  English  then 
proceeded  alone,  and  petitions  and  memorials  were  for- 
warded to  the  home  government  about  the  beginning  of 
1774,  signed  there  can  be  little  doubt  by  almost  every  old 
subject  of  any  standing  (outside  the  official  circles),  in  the 
province.  The  wording  of  these  is  in  the  main  of  the 
same  tenor  as  in  the  previous  representations,  but  a  very 
noteworthy  change  appears  in  the  reference  to  the  nature 
of  the  assembly  asked  for.  In  all  the  previous  petitions  it 
had  been  requested  to  be  called  "  in  such  manner  as  is  used 
in  those  provinces  in  America  under  your  Majesty's  gov- 
ernment," coupled  with  the  statement  that  there  were 
sufBcient  qualified  Protestants  in  the  province  to  consti- 
tute such  a  body.     This  evidently  means  the  exclusion  of 


I  Cun.  Aich.,  Q.  7,  p.  859. 

'^  Ibid.,  Q.  10.    See  also Masiires,  Account. 

'Ibid.,Q.  10,  p.  22. 

*  See  below,  c.  5, 


320  BUM.ETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

Catholics,  who,  however,  were  to  be  permitted  to  vote. 
But  in  the  present  petition  the  words  are,  "  in  such  manner 
and  of  such  constitution  and  form  as  shall  seem  best 
adapted  to  secure  peace,  welfare  and  good  government." 
The  exi)lanation  of  this  change  i.s  given  by  Maseres,'  agent 
for  the  party  in  London,  who  states  that  though  the  old 
subjects  had  formerly  entertained  hopes  of  an  exclusively 
Protestant  assembly,  on.  hearing  that  Catholics  had  been 
admitted  to  that  of  r^renada,-  and  that  the  government  con- 
templated the  giving  of  the  same  privilege  in  Quebec,  they 
had  resolved  to  acquiesce  in  this  indulgence,  though  un- 
willing to  join  with  the  French  in  askiug  for  it.  In  other 
words,  the  party  had  become  convinced  that  there  was  no 
hope  of  an  exclusively  Protestant  assembly,  and  preferred 
a  mixed  one  to  none  at  all;  probably  relying  on  their  in- 
fluence over  many  sections  of  the  French  to  secure  a  con- 
siderable if  not  the  greater  share  of  the  power  wielded  by 
such  a  body.  The  petitioners  make  the  statement  that  the 
granting  oi  an  assembly  is  the  only  sure  means  of  concil- 
iating the  new  subjects.' 

In  the  matter  of  the  laws  to  be  established  in  the 
province  we  find  that,  as  with  regard  to  an  assembly,  the 
views  of  the  British  party  became  much  more  liberal  to- 
ward the  clo.se  of  the  period.  The  presentment  of  the 
grand  jury  quoted  above  shows  that  they  were  disposed  at 
first  to  assume  a  most  intolerant  attitude,  and  (holding 
strictly  to  the  wording  of  the  treaty  of  cession),  to  enforce 
against  the  French  Canadians  the  penal  laws  which  were 
not  enforced  at  home.  But  this  we  can  consider  the  result 
of  only  a  momentary  access  of  irritation  and  disappoint- 
ment, and  as  probably  confined  to  a  few  individuals.  For 
we  find  nothing  of  the  kind  later  and  have  seen  that  all 
the  petitions  for  an  as.sembly  contemplated  the  admission 

I  Atlditioiinl  Proceedings,  vie. ^  p.  61. 
■•'  For  conditious  in  Grenada  sea  bolow,  chapt«r  V.,  B.  b. 

'  This  petition  was  supplemented  by  a  corresponding  one  from  the  London  merchanta 
who  were  commercially  connected  with  Canada. 


COFFIN — THE    fnoviNC'E  (»F  QUEUEC,    17(iO-70.  ']21 

of  the  French  Canadians  to  the  franchise.  It  will  also  be 
shown  later  that  the  old  subjects  welcomed  and  eagerly 
availed  themselves  of  the  restoration  of  the  French  form  of 
land  tenure.  Rei)resentations  in  November,  17G7  prove  that 
a  large  part  of  them  were  opposed  to  the  introduction  of 
the  English  bankruptcy  laws.  Masores,  who  had  been  an 
ardent  British  partisan  throughout,  and  who  became  in 
1774  the  agent  of  the  party  in  London,  may  be  considered 
to  represent  pretty  accurately  their  views  on  these  points, 
and  he  expressly  and  frequently  declares  that  the  Engli.sh 
inhabitants,  aware  of  the  uneasiness  and  confusion  that  an 
enforcement  of  the  English  laws  of  inheritance  and  landed 
property  would  have  occasioned  in  the  province,  had 
always  been  willing  that  the  French  laws  on  these  subjects 
should  be  continued. 

I  have  thus  brought  my  scrutiny  of  the  "  old  subjects  " 
down  to  the  establishment  of  the  new  constitution  and  the 
bringing  of  the  province  within  the  range  of  the  revolu- 
tion. The  consideration  of  the  attitude  of  the  party  in  this 
crisis  is  reserved  for  another  place.-  It  will  then  be  found 
that  the  division  of  feeling  whose  traces  we  have  discovered 
beneath  apparent  unity,  becomes  at  once  very  manifest,  de- 
claring itself  in  the  same  active  opposition  that  v/as  found 
in  the  other  colonies  between  Tories  and  Revolutionists. 

C.     Relations  with  the  French  Canadians. 

Of  social  relations,  which  it  is  not  within  my  province  to 
go  fully  into,  we  do  not  meet  many  traces.  There  are  a  few 
references  to  inter-marriage  and  other  social  connections 
between  members  of  the  noblesse  on  the  one  hand,  and 
members  of  the  English  military  or  official  circles  on  the 
other;  but  these  could  be  in  this  brief  time  of  but  slight 
influence,  politically  speaking.  Little  or  no  communication 
took  place  between  the  noblesse  and  the  main  body  of  the 
Englisa— the  commercial  class,— the  prevailing  sentiments 

'  See  below,  cliapter  VI. 


322  BULLETIN   OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

being  more  or  less  intense  degrees  of  contempt  or  hatred.' 
I  have  {.'.!  idy  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  bitter  ani- 
mosity between  the  English  element  and  Murray  was  due 
largely  to  the  latter's  partiality  for  the  noblesse:  and  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  same  state  of  things  was 
prevalent  to  some  degree  under  Carleton.  But  apart  from 
the  aristocracy, —  a  small  class,  with  constantly  declining 
influence, —  we  have  considerable  evidence  of  a  very  con- 
stant intercourse,  daily  increasing  in  influence  on  the 
attitude  of  both  sections,  between  the  main  body  of  the 
English  and  the  main  body  of  the  people.  This  was  based 
in  the  first  place  on  commercial  relations,  which  gave  the 
few  vigorous  and  enterprising  English  merchants,  in 
whose  hands  was  the  greatest  part  of  the  trade  (probably 
the  entire  wholesale  and  foreign  trade),  and  who  in  the 
later  years  also  more  directly  affected  the  county  districts 
by  the  large  acquirement  of  seigniories,  an  influence  out  of 
all  proportion  to  their  numbers  or  weight  with  the  gov- 
ernment. This  development  was  aided  by  the  appearance 
of  those  new  French  leaders  from  the  professional  and 
educated  class  of  whom  I  have  spoken  above  as  becoming 
rapidly  imbued  with  Englisti  ideas  of  government.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  ten  years  during  which  civil 
government  had  been  in  operation  a  very  considerable 
change  had  taken  place  in  the  social  and  political  attitude 
of  the  body  of  the  people;  and  we  must  consider  the  main 
factor  therein  to  have  been  that  part  of  the  English  ele- 
iQent  with  which  the  people  were  brought  into  daily  contact. 
The  first  occasion  on  which  we  find  representatives  of 
these  two  sections  of  the  population  acting  together, —  on  the 
grand  jury  of  17154, —  is  one  in  which  the  French  part  is  ex- 
hibited in  the  light  of  a  very  easily  hoodwinked  or  influ- 
enced section,  which  discovers  the  i"eal  nature  of  its 
action  only  through  later  outside  inspiration.  Early  in  1766 
we  find  in  connection  with  some  difficulties  concerning  the 

•  Marray  t  j  SluUjjurnj,  .\u;u<f.i:),  17*5.    Can.  Arch.,  B.  S,  p.  1, 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  323 

quartering  of  trooi^s  at  Montreal  that  the  new  attitude  of 
the  French  in  protesting  against  the  billeting  upon  them 
seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  instigation  of  the  English 
civil  element,  which  for  some  time  past  had  been  on  ex- 
tremely bad  terms  with  the  military.  The  affair  unmis- 
takably sViows  among  the  French  Canadians  in  that  town 
an  access  of  intelligence,  or  at  least  of  knowledge  of  the 
non-military  spirit  of  the  English  laws.'  The  language  of 
the  memorial  of  the  Quebec  seigniors  on  Vjehalf  of  Murray 
in  17(36"  proves  that  even  then  there  was  associated  with 
the  old  subjects  in  their  opposition  to  that  governor  a 
number  of  the  new,  who  are  said  for  tlie  most  part  to  be 
"slaves  to  their  creditors."^  Of  combined  English  and 
French  movements  we  have,  however,  very  few  traces. 
We  have  seen  above  how  the  attempt  at  combined  action 
failed  in  regard  to  an  a.ssembly  in  1773,  and  it  is  probable 
that  many  other  such  fell  through  from  similar  causes. 
Shortly  after  Carleton's  arrival  he  writes  in  connection 
with  the  Walker  affair  (an  assault  on  an  objectionable 
magistrate  which  was  the  outcome  of  friction  at  Montreal 
between  the  English  civil  and  military  elements),  that  the 
Canadians  are  being  led  by  the  English  into  the  seditious 
practices  of  the  other  provinces  in  the  belief  that  these 
are  "agreeable  to  our  laws  and  customs,"  and  "are  thereby 
induced  to  subscribe  sentiments  very  different  from  their 
natural  disposition."*  The  degree  of  influence  which  the 
English  element  had  acquired  over  the  French  in  this 
short  time  is  dwelt  upon  by  Masores,  who  contends  that 
in  the  event  of  an  assembly  being  granted  most  of  the 
French  Canadian  constituences  would  choose  English 
representatives.  And  in  the  account  he  gives  of  an  ap- 
proach by  some  of  the  leading  French  of  the  town  of 
Quebec  (of  the  professional  class),  to  the  English  for  the 


1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  :i,  pp.  122-10. 

'  JUp.  (an.  A  rrh.,  \!V*S,  p.  21. 

» Soe  a'oovp.  p.  2f'2,  note  5,  ooncernlngt  meetings  of  Frouch  Canadians. 

<Cau.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  40. 


324  }5Ur.LETIN  OV  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

purpose  of  joint  action  towards  an  assembly,  the  French 
delegation  is  represented  as  admitting  that  even  if  the 
greater  share  of  the  assembly  be  granted  to  the  numer- 
ical superiority  of  the  French,  the  English  will  more  than 
make  up  by  their  superior  knowledge  and  capacity  for 
public  business.' 

The  vigor  and  modern  character  of  the  political  methods 
resorted  to  by  the  British  party  may  be  seen  by  Carleton's 
refei'ence  to  a  memorial  against  the  new  judicial  ordinance 
of  1770,  in  which  he  states  that  he  was  "really  ashamed  of 
the  manner  in  which  I  was  informed  many  of  the  king's  old 
subjects  had  behaved,  sending  about  handbills  to  invite  the 
people  to  assemble  in  order  to  consult  upon  grievances,  im- 
portuning, nay,  insulting,  many  of  the  Canadians  because 
they  would  not  join  them."  -  Similar  methods  are  referred 
to  with  regard  to  the  movement  of  protest  against  the 
Quebec  Act,  and  the  language  used  indicates  a  considerable 
degree  of  success.  As  early  as  November,  1774,  (i.  e.,  six 
months  before  the  calling  upon  the  people  for  armed 
service  revealed  their  real  attitude),  Carleton  w^rites  of  the 
upper  classes  of  the  Canadians  that  they  "are  not  without 
fears,  that  some  of  their  countrymen,  under  the  awe  of 
menacing  creditors  and  others  from  ignorance,  may  have 
been  induced"  to  join  with  the  old  subjects  in  their  efforts 
against  the  "  oppression  and  slavery  imposed  upon  them 
[the  Canadians;  Carleton  is  quoting  the  representations 
made  to  the  people],  by  those  acts  of  parliament."  These 
efforts  will  be  discussed  more  fully  in  another  place;'  their 
success  proves,  among  other  things,  that  in  this  crisis  at 
least  the  leadership  of  the  people  had  fallen  in  very  large 
measure  to  the  more  advanced  section  of  the  English  party. 
At  present  it  will  be  sufficient  to  point  out  that  on  the 
whole,  if  we  except  the  ineradicable  hostility  between  the 

1  Mast'rcs,  AdiWiotuil  Po/n-rn,  tt<:,  ji.  21. 
"('nn.  Arch.,  Q.  7,  p.  89. 
•  Bt'low,  cliapfor  VI, 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEREC,    17G0-7G.  325 

noblesse  and  the  commercial  English  element  (an  hostility 
which  was  not  one  of  race),  we  certainlj^  discover  through- 
out the  period  no  signs  of  irreconcilable  discord  and 
difference  of  view  or  interest  between  the  main  French  and 
the  main  English  population.  It  is  true  that  the  peculiar 
attitude  of  the  government  towards  the  English  element 
imi)Osed  upon  it  the  necessity  of  cultivating  the  body  of  the 
people  more  than  otherwise  perhaps  would  have  been  the 
case.  But  taking  out  the  extremists  on  both  sides  we  would 
probably  find  that  the  average  ojiinions  as  to  the  disposi- 
tion of  government  and  the  laws  were  by  no  means  so  wide 

apart  as  the  makers  of  the  Quebec  Act  supposed. 
4 


326  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   PROVINCIAL   GOVERNMENT. 

A.     Gtmeral  Status. 

A  full  presentation  of  the  conditions  attendant  on  gov- 
ernment in  the  province  of  Quebec  throughout  our  period 
is  essential  to  any  accurate  estimate  of  general  policy  then 
or  later.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  discuss  some  general 
problems  that  lay  at  the  basis  of  authority,  and  to  describe 
briefly  the  character  and  principles  of  administration  pre- 
vious to  the  Quebec  Act. 

The  government  of  the  province,  not  only  during  this 
period,  but  also  under  the  Quebec  Act  down  to  1791,  may 
be  described  as  that  of  a  crown  colony'  without  an 
assembly.  As  no  other  such  government  existed  contem- 
poraneously among  the  older  continental  colonies,  or  had 
existed  since  the  first  rude  beginnings  of  government  there, 
we  cannot  turn  to  these  for  illustration.-'  But  a  clear  idea 
of  the  exact  constitutional  status  of  the  province  as  it  ap- 
peared to  the  highest  legal  authority  of  the  time  will  be 
acquired  from  a  sturdy  of  Lord  Mansfield's  famous  judg- 
ment of  1774  in  regard  to  the  island  of  Grenada. '  Grenada 
and  Quebec  (together  with  East  and  West  Florida),  had 
been  on  precisely  the  same  footing  with  regard  to  the  con- 
ditions of  acquirement  and  the  constitutional  documents  that 
had  issued  concerning  them.  Both  had  been  long  settled 
French  colonies,   conquered  by  England  about  the   same 

'Using  tho  clnssiflcatiou  of  coloiiitil  governnionts  into  croicii,  proprUlary  and 
pO))nlur,  accordinB  to  tho  method  by  whicli  the  Bovornor  was  appoiutod. 

"  Wo  mieht  pofhapsoacopt  GoofRia,  i7Sl-4,  during  whicli  tinio  tho  province  was  rot- 
ernod  directly  b.v  tlie  crown.  But  an  thoro  was  tlien  also  neither  governor  nor  council, 
and  us  wheu  in  1754  these  were  appointed,  an  assembly  came  with  tiieni  into  existence, 
it  does  not  seem  worth  while  to  refer  more  directly  to  conditions  there. 

'  Case  of  Campbell  vs.  Hull,  1774.    Cowiwr's  or  Lotl't's  Reports, 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17C0-76.  327 

time,  and  surrendered  on  conditions  of  capitulation  very 
nearly  the  same;  they  had  been  ceded  permanently  by  the 
same  treaty  under  explicit  statement  of  being  affected  by 
the  same  stipulations;'  and  finally  they  had  been  grouped 
together  and  made  subject  to  precisely  the  same  regulations 
by  the  Proclamation  of  1703.  This  proclamation  had  been 
followed  in  the  case  of  each  by  commissions  to  governors, 
couched  (so  far  as  the  present  point  is  affected),  in  almost 
precisely  the  same  terms.  The  Grenada  case  turned  on  the 
question  whether  the  king,  without  the  concurrence  of 
parliament,  had  power  to  make  a  legislative  enactment 
with  regard  to  the  Island  subsequent  to  the  date  of  the 
above  mentioned  Proclamation  of  Octobr-r  7,  17(33,  which 
made  known  to  all  concerned,  that  as  regarded  the  new 
acquirements  therein  mentioned,  he  had  "  given  express 
power  and  diiection  to  the  governors  of  our  said  colonies 
respectively,  that  as  soon  as  the  state  and  circumstances  of 
the  said  colony  will  admit  thereof  they  shall  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  our  said  Council  call  and  summon 
general  assemblies  in  such  manner  and  form  as  is  u>ed  in 
the  other  colonies  under  our  immediate  government,"  and 
that  he  bad  given  power  to  the  governors,  with  the  consent 
of  the  councils  and  of  tiie  assemblies  ns  so  constituted,  to 
legislate  for  the  provinces  concerned.  This  is  the  material 
instrument  involved,  though  Lord  Mansfield  cites  also 
another  subordinate  proclamation  of  the  same  tenor,  and  the 
commission  to  the  governor  by  which  he  is  given  the  power 
s})oken  of;  but  whatever  added  force  would  come  fi'om  this 
last  would  also  affect  the  province  of  Quebec  to  precisely 
the  same  degree.  Lord  Mansfield's  conclusion  is  that, 
while  previous  to  the  publication  of  these  documents  (i.  e., 
previous  to  October  7th,  171)3),  the  king  alone,  through  the 
legislative  power  over  a  conquered  country  given  him  by 
the  royal  prerogative,  could  make  any  legislation  concern- 
ing the  recent  conquests  consistent  with  the  constitution, 

'  See  Houston,  C'unuiUan  Doctunciiln,  p.  61. 


3?8  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

he  had  by  the  publication  of  these  instruments  divested 
himself  of  this  power,  and  had  voluntarily  and  irrevocably 
granted  to  the  nev/  provinces  a  constitution  under  which 
the  legislative  power  over .  them  could  be  exercised  only 
V>y  a  provincial  assembly  or  by  tlie  British  parliament.  In 
other  words,  the  Proclamation  of  17C3  was  a  charter  of 
liberties  granted  to  all  who  were  or  might  become  con- 
cerned with  the  regions  in  question,  granted  for  the  express 
purpose  (as  stated  in  it),  of  inducing  them  to  become  so 
concerned,  and  therefore,  they  having  acted  upon  it,  irre- 
vocable without  their  own  consent.  The  case  in  question 
had  reference  to  taxation;  but  evidently  nothing  depends 
on  this  fact,  for  the  decision  of  the  chief  justice  is  given 
in  general  terms;  "we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  King 
.  .  .  had  precluded  himself  from  an  exercise  of  the  leg- 
islative authority  which  he  had  before." 

The  conclusion  from  this  is  that  the  Proclamation  of  1763 
must  be  looked  upon  as  the  Constitution  of  Canada  through- 
out the  whole  of  this  period,  or  up  till  the  date  at  which 
the  imperial  parliament  first  took  legislative  action  con- 
cerning the  country;'  and  the  result  is  therefore  reached 
that  government  without  an  assembly  (i.  e.,  government  as 
it  existed  down  till  the  Quebec  Act),  was  constitutionally 
invalid,  all  legislation  by  the  governor  and  council  alone 
being  constitutionally  void.  This  position  cannot  be 
affected  by  any  quibbling  as  to  the  exact  terms  of  the 
above  mentioned  instruments.  It  is  true  that  the  words  of 
the  Proclamation  in  regard  to  the  calling  of  an  assembly 
are,  "  as  soon  as  the  state  and  circumstances  of  the  said 
colony  will  admit  thereof,"  the  governor  and  council  being 
apparently  left  judges  as  to  when  Ihat  might  be;  but  we 
do  not  find  that  any  contention  on  this  point  was  raised  in 
the  Grenada  case,  or  that  Lord  Mansfield,  (who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  a  strong  assertorof  royal  prerogative  and 

'  The ',Qupboc  Act   (11  Geo.   Ill,  c.  Ni,   Soc.  4.)  practically  recoKiiizos  this,  in  boKto- 
niiig  with  the  oxpross  abrogntiou  of  thi'  Prochiiiiatioii  and  the  subscMinont  commission.^. 


COFFIN — rilE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEHEC,    1700-76.  329 

colonial  subordination,  and  who  therefore  ^vould  undoubt- 
edly have  given  full  attention  to  any  point  which  would 
have  enabled  him  to  save  the  king's  authority  from  this 
decided  check),  took  anything  but  a  mere  passing  notice  of 
these  words.  The  words  of  the  proclamation  are  "power 
and  (Jiirc'inii  to  our  governors:" '  and  that  no  argument  can 
be  founded  on  the  substitution,  (probably  unintentional 
and  in  pursuance  of  official  forms),  for  these  in  Murray's 
commission  of  the  phrase  "  power  and  authoritu,"  is  shown 
by  an  examination  of  the  case  of  Nova  Scotia  some  few 
years  previous,— an  almost  parallel  case,  the  study  of 
which  will  I  think  strengthen  my  argument  in  every  point. 
The  position  of  those  settlers  who  in  Xova  Scotia  claimed 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  the  full  enjoyment  of 
English  consli^utional  forms  was,  if  anything,  weaker  than 
in  Quebec,  for  the  fundamental  proclamation  under  which 
settlement  had  been  invited,  emanated  not  from  the  King- 
in-council,  but  from  the  Board  of  Trade.-'  It  promised  the 
prospective  settlers  that  a  civil  government  should  be  es- 
tablished, "  as  soon  as  possible  after  their  arrival,  whereby 
they  will  enjoy  all  the  liberties,  privileges  and  immunities 
enjoyed  by  His  Majesty's  subjects  in  any  other  of  the 
colonies  and  plantations  in  America;"  and  the  commission 
of  the  governor,  issued  two  months  later,  grants  to  him 
"  full  power  and  authority,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
our  said  council  from  time  to  time  as  need  shall  require,  to 
summon  and  call  general  assemblies  .  .  .  according  to 
the  usage  of  the  rest  of  our  colonies  and  plantations  in 
America."  In  conjunction  with  such  assemblies  he  and 
the  council  were  to  have  full  power  of  legislation,  granted 
in  precisely  the  same  terms  as  are  used  in  the  commission 
given  to  Murray.  And  no  provision  is  made,  as  none  is 
made  in  Murray's  commission,  for  legislative  action  with- 
out such  an  assembly.     It  will  be  noticed  that  the  phrase 

1  The  itnlicisiiitf  i.s  miiuf. 

'  Miircli  7, 1749.    Sco  Hou.-ton,  Can.  Docuvu  nls,  p.  7. 


330  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OK   WISCONSIN. 

used  in  the  proclamation  above,  "  as  soon  as  possible  after 
their  arrival,"  is  fully  as  indefinite  as  that  quoted  from  the 
other  documents,  and  that  the  determining  of  the  possi- 
bility is  apparently  left  to  the  governor.  In  this  light  he 
and  his  successor  chose  to  understand  it,  and  without  tak- 
ing any  step  towards  an  assembly  proceeded  to  legislate 
with  the  council  alone  for  six  years.  Finally,  in  1755,  the 
attention  of  the  Board  of  Trade  was  called  to  this  state  of 
affairs,  and  it  immediately  submitted  the  validity  of  the 
laws  so  enacted  to  the  British  crown  lawyers,  the  attorney- 
general  at  that  time  being  the  William  Murray  who  after- 
ward as  Lord  Mansfield  delivered  the  judgment  of  1774, 
The  answer  was  that,  "  the  governor  and  council  alone  are 
not  authorized  by  His  Majesty  to  make  laws  till  there  can 
be  an  Assembly," — an  opinion  which  was  not  supported  by 
any  arguments  other  than  a  reference  to  the  king's  order 
that  government  should  be  in  accoi'dance  with  ihe  commis- 
sion and  instructions.'  The  Board  of  Trade  immediately 
proceeded  to  compel  the  governor  (notwithstanding  his  as- 
surances that  the  legislative  authority  of  the  governor  and 
council  was  not  questioned  in  the  province,  and  that  very 
great  difficulties  would  attend  the  calling  of  an  assembly), 
to  comply  with  the  original  promise,  enjoining  him  more- 
over to  see  that  one  of  the  first  legislative  measures  of  the 
assembly  should  be  the  passing  of  an  act  of  indemnity  for 
proceedings  taken  under  the  laws  previously  enforced.^ 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  conclusion  I  have 
thus  drawn  from  the  highest  legal  opinion  of  the  time  is 
affected  by  later  instructions  to  the  governors.  To  Murray 
there  was  issued  what  Maseres  calls  a  "private  instruc- 
tion," granting  to  him  and  the  council,  power  "to  make 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  shall  appear  to  be  necessary 
for  the  peace,  order  and  good  government,  taking  care  that 
nothing  be  passed  or  done  that  shall  in  any  wise  tend  to 

1  Houston,  CV(/i.  J)ocumi)itii,  i>.  1S<. 
"lb.,  p.  17. 


COFFIN— THE  raOVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,   17G0-76.  331 

affect  the  life,  limb  or  liberty  of  the  subject,  or  to  the  im- 
posing any  duly  or  taxes."  Carleton's  commission  In  1768 
is  accompanied  by  general  instructions,  of  v.  liich  the  tenth 
article  is  to  the  etTect  that,  v.'hereas  he  has  been  directed 
by  the  commission  "that  so  soon  as  the  situation  and  cir- 
cumstances of  our  said  province  will  admit  thereof,  you 
shall,  with  the  advice  of  our  Council,  summon  and  call  a 
General  Assembly,"  he  is  as  soon  as  possible  "to  give  all 
possible  attention  to  the  carrying  of  this  important  object 
into  execution;"  but  that,  "as  it  may  be  impossible  for  the 
present  to  form  such  an  establishment,"  he  is  in  the  mean- 
time to  make  with  the  council  alone  such  rules  and  regula- 
tions as  shall  be  necessary,  under  the  same  restrictions  as 
were  imposed  on  Murray.  These  instructions  of  course 
emanated  only  from  the  executive  power,  and  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  further  contend  that  as  such  they  were,  ac- 
cording to  Lord  i^Iansfield,  of  no  avail  against  the  funda- 
mental instruments  discussed  above.  So  long  as  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  formation  of  an  assembly  were  not  so  great 
as  to  occasion  the  entire  susjiension  of  civil  government, 
the  power  of  the  Home  executive  to  delegate  legislative  au- 
thority to  the  colonial  one  had  no  existence,  for  the  sim- 
I^le  reason  that  the  former  was  not  itself  i')ossessed  of 
any  such  authority.  Difficulties  such  as  existed  in  Quebec 
had  been  pleuded  by  the  government  in  Nova  Scotia 
thirteen  years  before  in  an  exactly  parallel  case;  but  no 
attention  had  been  paid  to  the  plea  by  the  Crown  lawyers 
or  the  Board  of  Trade. 

It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  the  provincial  legislation 
throughout  this  period  was  in  tolo  null  and  void.  But  this 
does  not  quite  dispose  of  the  problems  involved  in  the 
matter;  for,  apart  from  the  question  of  the  legislative 
competence  of  the  Provincial  government,  the  most  > 
diverse  opinions  have  been  entertained  with  regard  to  the  ' 
laws  legally  subsisting  throughout  the  period.  The  diffi- 
culty   is    with   the    civil  laws  only,    it  being  universally 


332  nCLi.KTiN  or  tiik  univkrsitv  ok  Wisconsin, 

acknowlodj^ed  tluit  the  criminal  code  accompanied  the 
conqueror  without  furtVier  enactment.  But  it  was  also 
contended  learnedly  in  many  quarters,  and  it  was  the  main 
article  of  faith  with  the  English-speaking  party  in  the 
province,  that  the  fundamental  iuiporial  documents  by 
which  civil  government  had  been  established  were  adequate 
to,  and.  had  resulted  in,  the  introduction  of  the  English 
civil  law,  if  not  in  toto  at  least  in  the  same  degree  as  that 
in  which  these  laws  were  operative  in  the  other  colonies.' 
It  may  perhaps  be  contended  that  this  was  the  view,  not 
only  of  the  "old  subjects,"  but  also  in  the  early  official 
world,  and  that  the  legislation  whoso  validity  has  been  dis- 
cussed above  was  mainly  intended  only  to  provide  adminis- 
tive  machinery  or  applications  for  laws  already  established 
in  bulk.  The  fundamental  acts  relied  on  for  such  an  estab- 
lishment were  the  capitulation  of  Montreal  (and  of  the 
province),  September  8th,  17G0,  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  Feb- 
ruary, 17(33,  and  the  Imperial  Proclamation  of  October  7, 
17C3.  It  is  necessary  therefore  to  briefly  consider  these. - 
The  first  of  these  documents  is  of  a  purely  negative 
character,  Amherst  replying  to  the  demand  that  the  Cana- 
dians should  continue  to  be  governed  according  to  the 
custom  of  Paris  and  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  colony,  by 
the  remark  that  they  became  subjects  of   the   king.     The 

1  Tlio  prpvailinj;  idp.is  in  ivirani  to  tlic  position  of  the  colonies  jrcniTiilly  as  to  tlio  iutro- 
ductioii  of  EiikHsIi  law,  arc  probably  I'xpi'osscil  in  Knox's  ,/iisliri'  anil  PoUc)/  uf  the 
Quebec  Act,  1774.  lie  stat^^s  that  EnRlisli  colonists  take  with  tlicni  such  statute  law 
only  as,  (of  date  previous  to  the  starting  of  the  colony),  is  apiilicablo  to  their  circnni- 
staucos,  or  such  of  later  (late  as  expressly  mentions  the  colonies.  The  result  (he  con- 
tinues), is  tliat  the  new  colony  is  in  most  cases  without  laws,  "and  the  maKistrates 
usually  adojit  the  usaues  of  the  nei>,'hbourinK  colonies,  whose  circumstances  and  situa- 
tion bear  a  near  resemblance  to  their  own ;  and  by  the  tacit  consent  of  the  poojile  to 
their  fitness  they  acciuiro  the  authority  of  laws:  and  thiufts  are  conducted  ujion  this 
(tlioufjrh  somewhat  arbitrary)  foolintj,  until  a  lej-'islature  is  formed  ;  anil  then  tlu?  laws 
of  the  other  colonies  ar((  taken  as  modi'ls;  and  with  such  alterations  as  circumstances 
render  necessary,  they  are  enacted  the  laws  of  the  new  colony."  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Knox  adds  that  this  was  the  procedure  in  Quebec,  the  old  laws  of  the  colony  being 
adoi)te<l  till  the  lej/islature  could  make  iiew  ones.  If  he  refers  to  actual  use  this  is  prac- 
tically correct;  but  by  no  means  so  with  regard  to  the  actual  h'trislative  steps  taken  in 
formal  enactment.     See  below,  chapter  V,  with  regard  to  th(>  province  of  (irenada. 

'The  pertinent  parts  are  reprinted  carefully  in  Houston,  Can.  Ducu)iieHts,\<i>.'JZ-'H. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF   QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  oIJS 

only  bearing  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  on  the  matter  is  an  in- 
direct one,  MasLTOS  contending  that  the  phrase  with  regard 
to  the  toleration  of  the  Catholic  religion,  "as  far  as  the 
laws  of  Groat  Britain  permit,"  shows  that  it  was  the  British 
intentioa  that  these  laws  should  bo  the  fundamental  rule 
of  government  in  the  province.  The  infcnfioiis  of  the  crown 
are  to  bo  considered  presently;  meanwhile  it  may  be  con- 
cluded that  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  except  with  regard  to  the 
criminal  law,  does  not  affect  the  legal  point;  unless  indeed 
it  be  considered  necessary  to  combat  the  opinion  that  con- 
quest and  cession  ipso  farfo  make  at  once  legal  in  the 
conriuored  territory  all  the  laws  of  the  conqueror.  But  it 
sliould  bo  enoup;hon  this  point  sirai)ly  to  refer  again  to  the 
opinion  of  Lord  Mansfield  (stated  by  liim  as  a  "maxim," 
the  "justice  and  antitiuity  "  of  which  wore  "  incontrovert- 
able  ").  that  "the  laws  of  a  conquered  country  continue  in  i 
force  till  they  are  altered  by  the  conqueror.  " '  The  remain- 
ing question  then  is  this.  Assuming  as  Lord  Mansfield 
does,  that  the  Inng  had  up  till  the  publication  of  the  Procla- 
mation of  170;'  possessed  general  legislative  power  within 

the  limits  of  the  constitution,  were  tlie  P]n2fl;sli  civil  laws     ; 

/ 
introduced  into  Canada  by  that  proclamation? 

The  proclamation  declares  that  the  Icing  has  by  letters 
patent  undor  the  great  seal  (i.  e.,  by  the  governor's  com- 
mission), "  given  express  power  and  direction"  to  the  gov- 
ernor to  summon  an  assembly  as  soon  as  possible,  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  other  royal  provinces;  that  he  has 
granted  to  the  governor,  council  and  assembly,  when  thus 
brought  together,  power,  "  to  malce  constitute  and  ordain 
laws,  statutes  and  ordinances  ...  as  near  as  may  be 
a,greeable  to  the  Laws  of  England,  and  under  such  regula- 

1  In  Grenailii  judBnient.  Seo  also  hU  letter  to  Gronvillo,  Decimibor  24,  1764,  OrenviUe's 
Correspond enci'.  III,  47(5.  Also  reports  of  crown  la  wyors  on  Cuuadii,  1766.  There  soonis 
no  noofl  of  furtlicr  (li<cnssinK  this  ;  the  curious  are  refcrnMl  f urtlicr  to  UUickHlonp,  I,  107  ; 
Clark,  Colunial  L<iir,  p.  i;  Howyor,  Univenal  Public  Ijiih<,c.\<')\  Hur(,'e,  C'omtnentttries 
on  Colonial  Taui'h,  I,  81;  Hallocli,  Tnlcrndtinnul  Law,  p.  821;  Lower  Canada  Jurist, 
11,  App,  J.    For  tliose  reforonces  I  am  itidebtod  mainly  to  Laroau,  Ifist.  Droit.  Can. 


334  BULLETIN  OK  TlIK   UNIVERSITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

tioiis  and  restrictions  as  are  usoti  iu  the  otlior  colonies;" 
and  that  in  the  meantime  "all  persons  inhabiting  in  or  re- 
sorting to  our  said  colonies  may  confide  in  our  Royal  Pro- 
tection lor  the  enjoyment  of  the  Ijenetit  of  the  laws  of 
England.  "  To  \vhi(;li  end  power  has  been  given  to  the 
governor  and  council  to  establish  courts  of  justice  "for  the 
hearing  and  determining  all  causes  as  well  criminal  as 
civil,  according  to  law  and  equity,  and  as  near  as  may  be 
agreeable  to  the  laws  of  England."  The  first  part  of  this 
gives  a  power  the  conditions  of  the  exercise  of  which  were 
never  realized,  and  which  thus  has  no  bearing  on  the 
present  question;  but  the  second  part,  which  claims  to 
provide  for  the  temporary  non-realization  of  these  condi- 
tions, and  which  directs  the  use  of  the  laws  of  England  "  as 
near  as  may  be  '  while  at  the  same  time  giving  no  author- 
ity to  the  provincial  government  directly  to  enact  these 
laws,  would  certainly  seem  to  have  been  considered  by  its 
authors  at  least  as  in  itself  sufficient  to  some  extent  for 
their  legalization  or  introduction.  But  even  this  would 
appear  not  to  have  been  tlie  case.  In  response  to  an  in- 
quiry from.  Carletoii  concerning  the  putting  into  force  in 
Quebec  of  some  English  commercial  law,  the  Earl  of  Hills- 
borough, then  secretary  of  state,  replies  (March  0,  1768), 
that  as  one  of  those  who  had  drawn  up  the  Proclamation 
of  1763,'  he  could  state  "  that  it  had  never  entered  into  our 
idea  to  overturn  the  laws  and  customs  of  Canada  in  regard 
to  projperty,  but  that  justice  should  be  administered  agree- 
ably to  them,  according  to  the  modes  of  administering 
justice  ...  in  this  Kingdom;"  adding  on  the  point  in 
question,  that  "it  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  it  could 
ever  be  His  Majesty's  intention,  signified  either  by  the 
Proclamation  or  by  the  Ordinance  for  the  establishment  of 
Courts  of  Judicature,  to  extend  laws  of  that  particular  and 

1  Ho  was  then  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  Horace  Walpolo  refers  to  him  at  au 
earlier  iwriod  as  "a  young  man  of  ftroat  lionour  and  merit ;"  bat  his  subsequent  career 
shows  that  he  possessed  little  judgment  or  modoi'ation. 


COFKIN — THE   rUOVlNCE  OF  QUEHKC,    1700-70.  335 

municipal  nature  to  the  colony,  even  if  tho  intention  had 
been  to  have  ovorturned  tho  customs  of  Canada."'  A 
further  official  indication  of  tho  intont  of  the  proclamation 
is  foui\d,  nearer  the  tunc  of  issue,  in  the  report  of  tho 
crown  lawyers,  April,  170G,  on  the  legal  condition  of  the 
province.  This,  after  strongly  advising  that  the  local 
usages  be  left  undisturbed,  states  as  one  of  the  main  sources 
of  disorder  in  the  province,  the  alarm  taken  at  the  procla- 
malion  of  1703,  "as  if  it  were  the  Royal  intention,  by  the 
judges  and  ofticeis  in  tliat  country,  at  once  to  abolish  all 
the  usages  and  customs  of  Canada  with  the  rough  hand  of 
a  conqueror  rather  than  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  lawful 
sovereign."-'  Whatever  this  may  imply  it  certainly  refers 
to  the  Proclamation,  not  as  introductive  of  any  law  or 
legal  principle,  but  as  at  the  most  merely  indicating  an  in- 
tention, to  bo  more  or  less  gently  and  gradually  caried  out. 
Finally  Attorney- General  Thurlow,  in  the  Quebec  Act  de- 
bates 1774,  refers  to  the  document  as  a  crude  production, 
which  "  certainly  gave  no  order  whatever  with  respect  to 
the  Constitution  of  Canada,"  and  asserts  that  it  is  an  un- 
heard-of and  absurd  tyranny  to  regard  it  "as  importing 
English  laws  into  a  country  already  settled  and  habitually 
governed  by  other  laws."  "This  proclamation  .  .  . 
was  not  addressed  to  the  Canadians;  ...  I  would  ask 
from  what  expression  it  is,  that  either  the  Canadians  can 
di&cover  or  English  lawyers  advance,  that  the  laws  of  Can- 
ada were  all  absolutely  repealed  and  that  a  new  system  of 
justice,  as  well  as  a  new  system  of  constitution,  was  by 
that  instrument  introduced. "  ' 

Authoritative  legal  and  official  statements  therefore  sup- 
port the  lay  judgment  in  the  opinion  that  the  general  and 
vague  expressions  of  the  proclamation  could  not  be  taken 
as  adequate  to  the  overturning  in  whole   or  part  of  the 

ICan.  Arch.,  Q.  !)-l,  v.  :iH. 

=  Smith,  irintoi)/  of  Ciiimi.ln,  11,  27. 

'  CuveiidUh,  2ie)jort,  pp.  24-37. 


336  BULLETIN   OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  V/ISCONSIN. 

ancient  system  of  civil  law,  and  the  express  introduction 
of  English,  either  common  or  statute.  The  province  could 
not  Ve  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  new  colony,  into  which 
the  settlers  brought  with  them  a  certain  part  of  the 
common  law  of  the  parent  state;  and  hence  it  would  seem 
that  the  introduction  of  common  law  could  not  be  effected 
any  more  easilj'  than  that  of  statute.  As  to  statute  law, 
public  promulgation  has  always  been  essential  to  validity; 
but  no  publication  of  any  portion  of  that  law  was  ever  ex- 
pressly made  in  the  province.' 

This  discussion  belongs,  however,  rather  to  the  realm  of 
legal  theory  than  to  that  of  practical  constitutional  investi- 
gation. For  tiie  validity  of  the  legislation  in  question  re- 
mained unchallenged  eitlier  in  the  ])rovince  or  at  homo,  and 
no  liint  of  an  indemnity  for  the  acts  committed  thereunder 
is  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  discussions  connected  with  the 
Quebec  Act.  "We  have  official  references  now  and  then  to 
individual  ordinarices  as  overstepping  the  legislative  au- 
thcn-ity,  and  a  fev  are  disallowed  by  the  home  government 
apparently  on  this  ground ;  but  no  general  objection  seems 
to  have  been  made  then  or  at  any  time  thereafter  to  the 
exercise  of  the  legislative  power.  Nor,  stranger  still,  have 
modern  writers  on  this  period,  even  those  occupying  a 
legal  standpoint,  taken  adequate  note  of  these  funda- 
mental considerations;  a  neglect  which  must  be  my  excuse 
for  the  extent  to  which  I  have  gone  into  them. 

'  It  is  to  bo  uotieod  in  tlii:-;  connection  that  the  Koimriil  supposition  iunon(j  the  English 
in  thi"  pi'oviiico  in  llic  r:ulii'i'  .vcar^,  as  to  tlio  introihiction  tif  Enplisli  law,  was  based, 
not  on  tlie  proclaniatiou  ah)ne,  but  mainly  on  the  orilinaiico  of  Septenibei'  17,  17(!4  ;  tlio 
inference  beiu^r  that  tliis  ordinance  was  considered  necessary  to  the  conipletiuK  or  on- 
foreln^of  the  Work  of  1  lie  proclamation.  Carleton  writes  to  Shelburno,  Deceniber24, 
1767,  that  the  wliol(>  French  coi.>tltuti(»n  and  system  of  law  and  (m.--t<im  "in  on(^  hour  wo 
overturned  by  the  Ordinance,  .  .  .  nnd  laws  ill-adapted  to  the  genius  of  the  Can_ 
ndians  .  .  ,  unknown  and  uni>nblislied,  wi>ri'  ititrodnced  in  their  stead."  '.l  l.as 
been  shown  aliove,  howi'ver,  that  thi-<  iMuictment  was  necessarily  null  and  vi'i<l,  as  an 
OVersteppinK  of  tlio  power  of  the  legislator,  See  Lareau,  Jlisl.  Droit,  diii.,  H,  H'.l-5;1, 
for  discussion  of  thi«  matter. 


COFFIN — THE   rROVINCE   OF  QUEHEC,    1700-76.  337 


B.     General  Ad)iiinislrotlo)i. 

It  is  of  course  not  possible  here  to  enter  into  any  inves- 
tigation of  the  constitutional  functions  at  this  period  of 
colonial  administrations  in  general,  or  of  this  one  in  par- 
ticular. My  object  is  simply  to  indicate  generally  the 
lines  and  limits  of  practical  conduct,  -with  special  reference 
to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  province.  Such  a  state- 
ment must  be  taken  in  close  conjunction  with  the  investi- 
gation of  general  policy  to  which  the  succeeding  chapter 
is  devoted,  and  especially  with  the  analysis  of  Commissions 
and  Instructiors  there  attempted. 

Murray's  commission  as  governor  (1704),  invested  him, 
apart  from  the  Council,  with  the  following  powers  and 
duties: 

a.  Keeping  and  using  the  public  seal. 

b.  Administering  required  oaths  to  all  other  public 
functionaries. 

c.  A  negative  voice  in  both  council  and  assembly  and 
the  power  of  adjourning,  proroguing  or  dissolving  the 
latter. 

d.  Appointment  of  ecclesiastical  officers. 

e.  Pardoning  or  reprieving  of  legal  offenders,  so  far  as 
that  power  was  delegated  to  colonial  officials. 

f.  Certain  military  powers  in  time  of  war. 

These  seem  to  be  the  usual  powers,  and  we  need  not 
delay  on  them,  except  to  notice  that  the  military  authority 
granted  Murray  was  purely  a  militia  one  (that  is  to  say,  of 
tne  extent  usually  granted),  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
he  represented  with  some  force'  the  necessity  of  a  different 
regulation  on  account  of  the  peculiar  position  of  Quebec. 
The  representation  was  of  avail  later,  for  the  supreme 
military  command  in  the  province  (i.  e.,  over  the  regular 
troops  on  all  occasions,  as  well  as  over  emergency  forces 
in  time  of  war),  was  practically  joined  to  the  civil  in  1706, 

1  To  Halifax,  Octobor  15,  1764.     (Can.  Aroh.,  Q. 2,  [>.  'IW.) 


338  BULLETIN'  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

and  formally  so  in  1770.  Other  changes  were  made  later 
in  the  position  of  the  governor,  concerning  which  it  is 
necessary  to  here  make  only  the  general  statement  that, 
with  the  military  modification,  the  result  was  to  jjlace  the 
English  governor  much  more  nearly  in  the  place  occupied 
by  the  old  French  one. 

In  regard  to  the  council  apart  from  the  governor,  and 
the  relation  between  it  and  him,  I  find  that  during  the 
most  of  the  period,  tlie  conditions  (defined  in  the  gov- 
ernor's Instructions),  were  practically  identical  with  the 
contemporary  ones  in  the  older  crown  colonies.'  The 
phrase  used  constantly  in  regard  to  the  relations  between 
the  council  and  the  governor  in  the  carrying  on  of  joint 
duties,  requires  the  governor  to  act  with  its  "advice  and 
consent."  T'mIs  position  of  tlie  council  is  defined  by 
Maseres  as  one  of  "advice  and  control;'  but  how  far  the 
element  of  control  really  entered  depended  largely  of  course 
on  circumstances  and  individuals.  IIow  far  it  could  be 
eliminated  under  a  strong  hand  may  be  conjectured  from 
the  fact  that  the  governor  was  by  his  commission  generally, 
if  not  always,  invested  with  an  unliujited  veto  jjower  on 
all  legislation,  and  that  the  candying  out  of  executivo 
measi'-res  rested  almost  entirely  with  him.  He  had,  more- 
over, on  Vv'hat  ho  might  choose  to  regard  as  emergencies, 
power  of  suspension  from  the  council;  besides  being  in  the 
province  the  dispenser  of  general  governmental  favours, 
and  in  most  ca-ses  the  only  effectual  medium  of  access  to 
the  home  administration.-'     An  examination  of  the  council 


I  Si'O  instructions  to  Sh' H.  .Mo()i-((,  jfoviMTior  of  Now  York,  issued  Novt-mhor  21,  17G5. 
Or  for  tlio  Province  of  (ioorKiH,  abont  the  same  tiino,  Tim  lattor  f)rovinoe,  in  itM  lato 
rstaliUslimpiit  as  a  crown  colony,  ami  tlio  prf'scncc  on  its  Ixinlcrs  of  far-rcachinft  triiios 
of  Indians,  a  sourcrt-  nt  onco  of  iliuiiror  and  of  profit,  occupied  in  tlii^  souUiern  system  of 
co)onips  a  position  analacroiis  to  that  of  Quobco  jn  tlio  nortiiorn. 

''  How  ine!rectiv(!  the  "control"  of  the  council  practically  proved  in  Quebec  is  tacitly 
acknowledged  by  Masc'ros  himself  in  his  later  recommendations  of  such  changes  iu 
formation  and  maintenance  as  would  protect  it  ap:ainst  tlie  governor.  In  a  close  exam" 
iuation  of  the  council  records  thro\i(Tliout  tho  period,  I  have  discovered  only  "no  instanco 
where  tho  ollicial  lunguago  (and  1  am  not  unmindful  of  tho  untrustworthiness  in  such 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-76.        339 

records  leaves  with  us  the  impression  on  the  whole  of  a 
body  so  docile  as  to  present  no  obstacle  to  the  will  of  such 
a  man  as  Carleton.  Abridged  as  the  latter's  power  really 
was,  he  was  able  to  rule  more  autocratically  than  even  Mur- 
ray. But  that  this  was  not  the  intention  of  the  home  au- 
thorities may  be  conjectured  from  the  changes  in  his  in- 
structions; and  we  shall  see  later  how  after  the  Quebec  Act 
a  more  decisive  intervention  was  made  in  favour  of  the 
council. 

The  council  had  no  stated  times  or  conditions  of  meeting, 
the  available  members  being  apparently  called  together  as 
occasion  arose.  The  full  list  comprised  twelve  names,  and 
the  pcrsonnd  was  subject  to  constant  change,  only  three  of 
the  original  dozen  remaining  in  the  ijrovince  at  the  close 
of  the  period.  Temporary  appointments  had  to  be  con- 
stantly made,  and  Juno  22,  1773,  the  lieutenant-governor 
writes  that  no  meetings  had  been  held  for  the  last  three 
months  of  1772  for  want  of  a  quorum.  During  the  admin- 
istration of  Murray  we  have  no  details  of  the  council  pro- 
ceedings. This  seems  due  to  neglect  on  the  part  of  the 
colonial  office  in  not  requiring  reports; '  for  references  else- 
where leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  fact  of  meetings  or  the 
keeping  of  minutes.     The  first  full  report  is  in  170G,  and 

couiicctioiis  i)f  odiciul  wonliiiRs),  .siipiiorts  tlio  tlioory  iif  to  tlio  power  of  tlip  council :  and 
in  tiint  instanco,  if  control  wore  roally  exorcised,  it  can  bo  shown  to  have  boiMi  most 
proV)ul)ly  caused  by  exceptional  circumstances.  Carloton's  attitude  toward  his  council 
may  be  judj-'cd  from  his  assertion  of  j)raotical  indcjiendence  soon  after  his  arrival,  in  ro- 
Kard  to  an  nistanee  where  lie  liad  expressly  convened  only  a  [lortion  of  it.  And  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  his  conduct  on  that  occasion  was  not  censured  by  the  homo  authorities. 
(See  Can.  Arch.,  (}.  H,  pp.  259-70.)  A  few  n.onths  later  ho  dismissed  two  of  the  council  on 
his  soliMiuthority.  His  representation  of  this,  matter  also  jjroved  satisfactory  lo  the 
homo  (.Tovertiinent,  which  iiaid  no  attention  to  the  plea  of  the  a;,'Krieved  members,  that 
"the  independence  of  His  Majesty's  council,  not  only  of  Queboc,  but  in  every  other 
province,  scHims  interested  in  this  event."  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  40;  pp.  19S-2;i9,  247.)  Tina 
is  the  only  instance  of  tho  dismissal  of  councillors  met  with.  Murray's  relations  with 
his  advisors  seem  to  have  V)een  amicabl"  thro\i{,'lio'if. 

'  A  neglect  which  I  have  fre(iuently  noted,  and  wliich  I  shall  empliasizo  elsewhere  as 
steadily  mnrkiiiB  tho  home  administration  with  re^rard  to  Canada  down  almost  to  the 
QueV)ec  .\ct, 


340  BULLETIN  01'   THE   UNIVERSITY  01'  AVISCONSIN. 

from  this  lime  down  we  have  regular  accounts  of  i:)roceed- 
ings.' 

In  comparing  the  English  council  down  to  the  Quebec 
Act  with  the  council  under  the  .French  regime,  we  find  at 
first  sight  a  close  resemblance  in  composition.  The  French 
council  in  the  last  stage  of  its  development,  (i.  e.,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  18th  century),  consisted,  beside  the  gov- 
ernor, intend  ant,  and  bishop,  of  the  same  number  of  ordin- 
ary councillors  (12),  appointed,  and  apparenlly  removable, 
in  the  same  way.  If  we  regard  the  English  governor  as 
representing  the  bishop,  and  the  English  chief  justice  and 
governor  as  dividing  between  them  most  of  the  functions 
of  the  intendant,  (not  indeed  a  very  accurate  supposition), 
we  may  look  upon  the  councils  as  practically  identical  in 
composition.  But  in  considering  the  respective  sjiheres  of 
action,  we  discover  very  notable  differences;  differences 
which  for  the  general  purposes  of  government  made  the 
English  council  a  very  much  more  important  body.  In  re- 
gard to  legislative  functions  the  French  council  had  power 
only  in  cases  not  ]n-ovided  for  by  the  established  Coutume 
de  Paris,  the  royal  edicts,  or  the  ordinances  of  the  intendant 
(the  last  especially  affecting  all  parts  of  the  life  of  the  peo- 
ple) ;  while  in  ordinary  executive  work  its  powers  were  again 
much  narrowed  by  the  great  range  of  the  same  official,  whose 
prerogatives  were  always  jealously  defended  and  exercised. 
Gn  the  other  hand,  in  judicial  matters  the  French  council 
seems  to  have  had  a  much  wider  sphere  than  the  English, 
and  to  have  acted  within  it  much  more  constantly  and 
vigorously.  So  much  so  indeed  that  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  was  intended  finally  to  be  restricted,  so  far  as 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  colony  should  render  ad. 

1  No  flofinitp  instructions  nro  found  us  occasi()nin<.?  tliis  cluinii^o,  and  it  would  sooin 
that  none  sncli  are  to  bo  found  contoniiioraneously  in  regard  to  tlio  other  colonies. 
Carloton  liad  doubtless,  liowever,  icceivod  directions  of  some  kind  before  entering  on 
the  government,  and  the  >Uth  Article  of  his  Instructions  of  17tiS  require  iiim,  "upon  all 
occa.sion8  to  send  unto  us  .  .  .  u  particular  account  of  all  your  proceedinffs  and  of 
the  conditions  of  affairs  within  your  »,ov(>rMmeiit."  This  direo'ion  does  not  appear 
in  the  iuEtructions  of  177.")  or  177S,  tlioutrh  full  minutes  continued  to  be  sent. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  341 

visable,  to  much  the  same  sphere  of  activity  as  that 
allowed  to  the  old  parliaments  of  Prance.  Within  these 
limits  it  seems  to  have  been  a  much  more  vigorous,  though 
much  less  harmonious  body  than  the  English  council, 
either  of  Quebec  or  of  the  older  colonies.  It  met  weekly, 
worked  with  dispatch,  and  made  its  influence  daily  felt  in 
every  part  of  the  province.  It  was  by  no  means  under  the 
control  of  the  governor,  and  was  always  split  up  into  two, 
and  not  unfrequently  into  three,  factions;  a  want  of  har- 
mony, however,  which  does  not  seem  to  have  seriously 
affected  the  satisfactory  execution  of  its  main  work. 

In  considering  the  actual  legislation  of  the  period  we  find 
the  more  important  ordinances  to  be  about  forty  in  number, 
of  which  more  than  one-half  were  passed  under  Murray's 
administration,    or  in  the  first  two  years.     The  main  sub- 
jects treated  are  as  follows:  The  judiciary  (9  ordinances); 
the   currency  (3);    regulation    of   retail    trade,    including 
markets  (14);  relations  of  debtors  and  creditors  (3) ;  police 
regulations  (3);  registering  of  lands,  etc.  (1);  highways  (1): 
protection    against   fire   (3).     Measures  of   an  exceptional 
character  provided  for  the  ratifying  of  the  decrees  of  the 
courts  of  justice  during  the  preceding  military  period,  pre- 
vented anyone  leaving  the  province  without  a  government 
pass,   forbade  the  selling  of  liquor  to  the  Indians,   made 
temporary  provision  for  billetting  troops  in  private  houses, 
and  imposed  a  fine  for  being  more  than  three  months  ab- 
sent from  public  worship.     Much  of  the  commercial  legis- 
lation is  decidedly  paternal  in  tone.     The  ordinances  of  the 
first  part  of  the  period  are  as  might  be  expected  somewhat 
carelessly  drawn.     One  has  an  ex  post  facto  clause;  another 
mixes  together   in   the    same    enactment  two    apparently 
utterly  unrelated  regulations;  a  third  describes  and  pro- 
hibits a  serious  offence  without  stating  any  penalty.    In  most 
cases  fines  are  the  only  punishment,  but  in  three  ordinances 
(which  are  not  noticed  as  repealed,  and  were  therefore  evi- 
dently considered  as  law  through   the  whole  period),    the 


342  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

penalties  include  imprisonment  up  to  one  month,  though 
the  instructions  debarred  provincial  legislation  from  affect- 
ing the  liberty  of  the  subject  In  three  others  (two  of 
which  were  disallowed,  apparently  on  this  ground),  con- 
viction could  be  secured  by  the  oath  of  an  informer,  who 
got  half  the  fine.  It  is  evident,  in  short,  that  the  ap- 
prentice work  of  the  council  was  not  guided  by  any  i)ar- 
ticular  directions  from  home.  Such  directions  were, 
however,  issued  to  Carleton  in  1768,  and  the  legislation  we 
have  subsequently  is  apparently  devoid  of  such  objection- 
able features.  The  minutes  of  council  show  the  ordinances 
to  have  been  framed  with  very  considerable  care  and  delib- 
eration,' following  the  lines  of  English  parliamentary 
practice.  In  most  cases,  however,  the  number  of  council- 
lors present  is  merely  a  quorum  or  less  than  one-half  the 
w'  lie.-  The  ordinances  seemly  from  the  beginning  to  have 
been  published  in  both  French  and  English,  but  it  was  not 
till  1768  that  the  prior  submission  of  the  French  translation 
to  the  inspection  of  the  council  was  made  necessary  before 
publication.  As  to  the  occasion  and  manner  of  the  initia- 
tion of  legislation  we  have  few  particulars;  but  in  one  in- 
stance (February  16,  1768),  we  find  an  ordinance  called 
forth  by  the  submission  to  the  council  through  the  chief 
justice  (an  ex-offlcio  member  of  it),  of  a  presentment  of  the 
grand  jury  in  the  supreme  court;  while  in  another  case 
(April  24,  1769),  it  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  simply 
by  the  representation  of  a  Quebec  magistrate.'  Petitions 
were  no  doubt  very  frequently  the  basis  of  action.     The 

>  See  (e.  g.)  tlip  jiroceduru  iu  the  case  of  the  ordinance  of  February  1, 1770,  for  the  re- 
form of  the  judiciary.  At  a  council  meeting  of  Aupust  18,  1769,  a  committeo  is  njipointed 
to  report  concerning  comi>laints  on  the  subject.  Tlic  report  appears  September  14,  and 
on  being  approved,  tlie  attorney  general  is  ordered  to  i)repare  an  ordinance  embodying 
its  recommendations.  The  draft  of  this  is  submitted  at  the  next  meeting  (January  10, 
1770),  is  referred  to  a  committee,  and  rv^turned  by  it  February  1st,  witli  an  amendment. 
The  amended  ordinance  is  ordered  to  be  translated  into  Frencli,  and  on  the  translation 
toiug  approved  of  at  tiienext  meeting,  (February  14),  the  two  versions  are  ordered  to  be 
immediately  promulgated. 

'  The  Quebec  Act  ordered  that  legislation  should  require  a  mojority. 

•See  Can.  Arch.,  Q.    MinutflS of  council  of  above  dates. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCR  OF  QUEKEC,    1700-76.  343 

manner  of  publishing  ordinances  was  at  first  by  public 
reading  in  the  towns  on  beat  of  drum,  .allowed  by  printing 
in  the  Quebec  Gazette.  A  few  months  later  this  was  sup- 
plemented by  an  order  that  all  cures  should  read  to  their 
congregation  after  Sunday  services  all  government  meas- 
ures so  published. 

The  multifarious  forms  of  the  council's  executive  activity 
can  be  as  easily  imagined  as  they  would  be  tedious  to 
enumerate.  Its  main  and  regular  functions  were  the  grant- 
ing of  lands,  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  means 
of  communication,  the  regulation  of  trade  and  manufactures, 
the  appointment  and  supervision  of  judicial  and  local  offi- 
cials, the  examination  of  public  accounts,  and  the  consider- 
ation of  complaints  against  public  officers.  It  acted  in 
Important  matters  by  means  of  committees  and  much  of  its 
time  was  expended  in  the  examination  of  petitions. 
General  measures,  aside  from  ordinances,  were  known  as 
Proclamations  or  Advertisements,  and  seem  at  times  to 
encroach  on  the  properly  legislative  sphere;  at  least  it  is 
difficult  to  see  the  distinction  between  matters  provided  for 
in  some  of  them  and  other  matters  which  were  clothed 
with  the  dignity  of  an  ordinance.' 

The  judicial  functions  of  the  governor  and  council,  (regu- 
lated by  the  governor's  instructions),  were  the  ordinary 
ones  of  the  supreme  colonial  court  of  appeal,  and  do  not 
require  close  discussion.  I  have  spoken  above  of  the  cor- 
responding powers  of  the  French  council  as  being  very 
similarly  exercised,  but,  through  the  greater  range  of 
appeal,  as  much  more  closely  and  constantly  touching 
the  people,  even  making  allowance  for  the  fact  that  the 
English  council  was  not  hampered  by  a  parallel  jurisdic- 
tion such  as  that  of  the  intendant.  The  instances  of  judi- 
cial action  on  the  part  of  the  latter  at  any  part  of  the 

'  None  of  these  inl^t^uments  appear  aiter  1768.    Many  of  them  wtM-e  ^iuijjly  the  re-iijsue 
under  the  colonial  ^eal,  of  peneral  or  special  acts  of  tlu^  home  executive. 


34-4  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

period  are  few  in  number,'  there  being  none  under  Murray's 
administration.  Notwithstanding  one  dubious  incident,^ 
the  council's  judicial  activity  seems  to  have  been  beneficial. 
Its  apY)lication  of  English  constitutional  principles,  and 
the  thoroughly  English  spirit  of  its  procedure,  are  illus- 
trated by  a  case  in  1707  which  seems  at  first  sight  a  direct 
overstepping  of  its  jurisdiction.'  But  that  it  v^as  not  given 
to  vexatious  or  illegal  interference  with  the  courts  is 
shown  not  only  by  the  rarity  of  such  cases,  but  also  by  the 
record  of  a  couple  of  instances  in  which  appeals  were  dis- 
missed as  not  cognizable.  Nevertheless,  a  general  oVier- 
sight  seems  to  have  been  kept  on  the  judiciary,  especially 
in  its  lower  stages.  As  a  striking  illustration  we  may 
notice  here  the  action  taken  on  receipt  of  well  founded 
complaints  against  many  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  of  the 
District  of  Montreal  in  1769, —  complaints  which  a  few 
months  later  were  more  fully  met  by  an  ordinance  greatly 
curtailing  the  power  of  the  justices.*  In  the  meantime, 
and  almost  immediately  on  receipt  of  the  complaints,  a  cir- 
cular letter  was  addressed  to  the  offending  magistrates,  in 
which  the  conduct  complained  of  was  censured  in  the 
strongest  terms,  and  particular  directions  were  given  as  to 
the  method  of  amendment. 

C.     Judiciary.     Civil  Service. 

The  commission  issued  to  Gov.  Murray  in  1763  granted 
him  power,    in    conjunction  with   the  council,   "  to  erect, 

•  This  is  mainly  due  of  course  to  the  restriotioa  of  civil  upiwals  to  cnses  involving  a 
high  money  value  (£:i()0). 

'This  WHS  a  case  of  the  reversion  by  the  council  of  a  judKraentof  the  court  of  common 
pleas.  Apiiealed  to  the  crown,  (the  only  sucli  appeal  of  tiw  period),  the  Privy  Council 
decided,  (after  a  delay  of  four  years),  to  uphold  the  original  court.  But  to  tlie  conse- 
quent order  tlie  provincial  council  seems  to  have  paid  slight  attention  ;  for  in  1774  we  find 
an  apparently  well-founded  conulaint  to  Dartmouth  from  tlio  original  apiMsllant  in  the 
case,  to  the  eS'ect  that  though  the  decision  of  tlio  Privy  Council  had  been  transmitted  to 
Quebec,  the  governor  and  council  had  taken  advantage  of  a  technical  difficulty  to  refuse 
all  reparation,  Tliecase  seems  from  first  to  last  a  reversion  and  denial  of  justice.  (See 
Can.  Arch.,  Q.  10,  pp.  94-104). 

»  See  Can,  Arch.,  Q.  4.  p.  2;!0. 

*  See  full  details  in  lieji.  Can.  Arch.,  1890,  p.  xvii,  and  following. 


COFFIN — THE   I'lloVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17C0-76.  345 

constitute  and  establish  such  and  so  many  courts  of  judi- 
cature and  public  justice "  as  should  be  found  necessary, 
these  courts  being  declared  by  the  previous  proclamation 
of  October,  1763,  to  be  for  the  "  hearing  and  determining 
all  causes  as  well  criminal  as  civil  according  to  law  and 
equity,  and  as  near  as  may  be  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land." The  institution  of  the  judiciary  in  accordance  with 
the  powers  then  given  was  through  the  provincial  ordi- 
nance of  September  17,  1764,  which  remained  for  the  most 
part  the  basis  of  the  administration  of  justice  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  period.     Its  main  provisions  were: 

1st.  Establishment  of  a  superior  court,  or  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  presided  over  by  a  Chief  Justice,  "with  power  and 
authority  to  hear  and  determine  all  criminal  and  civil 
causes  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  England  and  to  the  Ordi- 
nances of  the  Province."  To  sit  twice  a  year  at  Quebec, 
with  the  addition  of  a  court  of  assize  and  general  goal  de- 
livery once  a  year  at  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers.  Appeal 
could  be  made  to  governor  and  council. 

2nd.  Establishment  of  a  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  to  de- 
termine all  cases  concerning  property  above  value  of  £10, 
with  appeal  to  King's  Bench  concerning  £20  or  upwards, 
and  to  council  directly  for  £300  or  more.  The  judges  "to 
determine  agreeably  to  equity,  having  regard  nevertheless 
to  the  laws  of  England,  as  far  as  the  circumstances  and 
present  situation  of  things  will  admit,  until  such  time  as 
proper  ordinances  for  the  information  of  the  people  can  be 
established  by  the  government  and  council  agreeable  to  the 
laws  of  England : "  but  "  the  French  laws  and  customs  to 
be  allowed  and  admitted  in  all  causes  where  the  cause  of 
action  arose  before  October  1,  1764.  ' 

3rd.  Establishment  of  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  dif- 
ferent districts,  with  power  to  each  in  his  own  district  "to 
hear  and  finally  determine  in  all  causes  and  matters  of 
property"  not  exceeding  £5,  and  to  any  two  to  do  the  same 


34G  BULLETIN  OP  THE   nNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

up  to  £10.  Three  were  to  be  a  quorum,  with  power  of 
holding  quarter  sessions  and  determining  up  to  ,f30,  with 
appeal  to  the  King's  Bench,  while  two  of  the  body  were  to 
sit  weekly  in  rotation  it  the  towns  of  Quebec  and  Monti'eal. 
I  have  elsewhere  spoken  of  the  marked  English  charac- 
ter of  this  ordinance  and  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
received  in  the  province.'  There  are  no  traces  of  refer- 
ence to  the  old  French  judiciary,  and  apparently  the  only 
indications  that  the  legislators  were  aware  that  the  com- 
munity for  which  they  were  legislating  was  not  an  English 
one,  are  the  concessions  as  to  the  use  of  French  proced- 
ure and  law  in  causes  begun  before  October  1,  1764,"  the 
admission  of  French  Canadians  to  juries  in  the  King's 
Bench,  (apparently  not  in  the  Common  Pleas),  and  the  ad- 
mission of  Canadian  lawyers  to  practice  in  the  Common 
Pleas,  (apparently  not  in  the  King's  Beach).  I  shall  else- 
where detail  the  extension  of  these  privileges  by  instruc- 
tions from  home;  instructions  which  it  will  be  remembered 
did  not  come  into  effect  during  Murray's  administration. 
The  only  other  judiciary  enactment  of  importance  under 
Murray  is  an  ordinance  of  March  9,  1765,  by  which  all 
juries  were  directed  to  be  in  future  summoned  from  the 
province  at  large  without  regard  to  the  vicinage  of  the 
action  or  crime.  This  remarkable  interference  with  one 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  jury  system  seems  to 
have  been  occasioned  by  temporary  circumstances,  and  was 
remedied  by  Carleton  very  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the 
province.' 

'  To  what  u  Jarfto  iixtont  the  lofjislators  belioviid  that  thoy  wero  intfoduciiiR  Eng.'isli 
law  by  tliis  ordinance  is  .-liowii  by  tho  amend inj?  one  of  NovoinborB  followinR.  For  lator 
opinions  as  to  it,  .sho  Car)otoii,  I)pc('nibor'J4,  1767,  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  .l-l,  p.  316),  and  Reports 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  1765, 1786,  (Can.  Arch. ,  Q.  3,  pp.  M,  171. )  See  also  above,  p.  336  note. 
'■'  See  also  ordinance  of  November  6,  1764,  for"(iuietinK  jx^ople  in  tlieir  possessions." 
'Ordinance  of  January  27,  1766.  This  ordinance  was  approved.  It  should  be  consid- 
ered in  connection  witli  tliat  interference  with  the  jury  system  in  Massachusetts,  which 
called  forth  the  protest  of  the  Massachusetts  assembly  .July  8,  1769,  against  measures  by 
which  "  the  inestimable  privilege  of  being  tried  by  a  jtiry  froiii  the  vicinage  .  .  .  will 
be  taken  away  from  the  party  accused."    (4  Amer.  ArcK,  I.,  24.) 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OP  QUEHEC,    17«!0-7<>.  347 

The  instructions  to  Carleton  of  1768  imply  no  cliange  with 
reference  to  the  judiciary,  and  talcen  literally  would  indeed 
intimate  an  intention  of  remaining  closely  by  the  English 
law  and  i)rocedure.  But  that  this  was  due  simply  to  the 
careless  following  of  old  official  forms  is  shown  by  later 
transactions.  For  not  only  was  such  an  idea  disregarded  by 
the  governor  in  his  general  policy,  but  the  first  important 
judiciary  ordinance  of  his  administration  (February  1,  1770), 
is  a  direct  abandoning  of  English  institutions  and  a  very 
considerable  step  toward  the  adoption  of  French.  The 
ordinance  was  occasioned  by  that  oppressive  conduct  on 
the  part  of  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  district  of  Mont- 
real which  has  been  already  mentioned,  and  had  been  pre- 
pared after  an  investigation  by  a  committee  of  the  council 
with  the  Chief  Justice  at  its  head,  and  an  attempt  to  remedy 
matters  by  a  letter  of  censure  to  the  offending  justices. 
There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  necessity  and  justice 
of  the  ordinance.'  That  of  1764  had  given  to  the  justices  a 
power  of  final  determination  in  matters  of  property  far  ex- 
ceeding that  ever  exercised  by  similar  magistrates  in  Eng- 
land (who,  as  the  committee  of  council  jiointed  out,  were 
of  a  much  more  influential  and  disinterested  class);  and 
even  this  large  power  had  been  by  some  constantly  over- 
stepped and  exercised  in  a  most  wantonly  oppressive 
manner.  Accordingly  all  jurisdiction  (either  singly  or 
jointly),  in  matters  of  private  property  was  now  taken 
away  and  mainly  transferred  to  the  Common  Pleas,  the  sit- 
tings of  which  were  greatly  extended  and  for  which  in 
such  cases  a  definite  line  of  procedure  was  laid  down.  The 
ordinance  is  also  marked  (as  the  old  subjects  complained), 
by  the  discretionary  power  granted  to  the  judges.  This, 
and  the  provision  that  the  new  jurisdiction  given  to  the 
common  pleas  could  be  exei-cised  by  one  judge  (acting  evi- 
dently in  a  summary  manner),  together  with  the  prohibi- 
tion of  imprisonment  and  sale  of  lands  in  cases  of  debt, 

1  See  l{ep.  Can.  A  rch.,  1890,  pp.  xvii-xx,  1-9. 


348  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

are  distinctly  French  features,  and  mark  the  measure  as  a 
considerable  step  towards  the  restoration  of  French  pro- 
cedure in  civil  matters.  That  this  was  intended  is  shown 
by  Carleton's  explanation  when  transmitting  it  home;  he 
says  plainly  that  its  aims  were  the  "  reducing  the  justices 
of  the  peace  to  nearly  the  same  power  they  have  in  Eng- 
land, "  and  the  "reviving  part  of  the  ancient  mode  of  ad- 
ministering justice  in  the  Province."'  And  that  it  was  so 
regarded  by  the  general  public  is  evident  from  the  vigor- 
ous and  numerously  signed  memorials  against  it  from  the 
merchants  of  Quebec  and  Montreal;  representations  which 
cannot  be  disposed  of,  as  C;irleton  tries  to  do,  as  merely  the 
angry  and  hungry  voice  of  the  dispossessed  justices.-  For 
the  objections  raised  are  not  against  the  depriving  of  these 
justices  of  their  ill-used  power,  but  against  the  unusual 
and  inadequate  character,  (in  the  opinion  of  the  memorial- 
ists), of  the  substituted  procedure.  The  ordinance  was 
approved  by  the  home  government  without  delay  and  with- 
out any  remark  on  its  inconsistency  with  the  instructions 
of  1768.  It  was  a  fitting  prelude  to  that  article  of  the 
Quebec  Act  which  enacted  that  "in  all  matters  of  contro- 
versy relative  to  property  and  civil  right,  resort  shall  be 
had  to  the  laws  of  Canada  as  the  rule  for  the  decision  of 
the  same. "  '^ 

I  have  discussed  elsewhere  the  questions  connected  with 
the  dispute  regarding  the  validity  in  the  province  of  French 

•  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  7,  pp.  7, 89.    For  ordinance  see  p.  12,  and  for  Britisli  memorial.-!,  p.  95. 

'  It  is  to  bo  repeated  that  the  English  party  had  protested  strongly  in  1764  against  the 
great  powers  now  taken  from  the  justices. 

'  It  ebould  be  not*d  that  the  only  complnints  that  appear  throughout  the  period  on  the 
part  of  the  French  Canadians  with  regard  to  the  administration  of  justice,  (apart  from 
the  matter  of  fees),  are  those  remedied  by  this  Ordinance.  And  the  justices  whose  acts 
are  complained  of  had  not  only  been  entrusted  with  powers  greater  than  English  law 
granted  in  the  mother  country,  but  had  abused  even  these.  No  argument,  therefore,  can 
be  drawn  from  the  matt«r  to  show  tliat  the  Canadians  here  displayed  hostility  to  Eng- 
lish law  or  judicial  methods.  But  it  must  of  course  be  conceded  that  the  incident  could 
not  b_VA  had  a  favorable  effect  upon  them;  the  effect  probably  was  to  confirm  and  con- 
tinue the  avoidance  of  the  courts.  The  abuse  had  been  fully  removed,  it  should  be 
elearly  noted  however,  four  years  before  the  Quebec  Act. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  349 

and  English  law;  and  it  is  well  to  bring  here  the  considera- 
tion of  the  more  practical  and  even  more  obscure  problem 
as  to  the  laws  actuallj^  used  throughout  the  period.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  questions  connected 
with  the  introduction  of  English  institutions;  and  it  be- 
comes of  even  more  immediate  interest  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  policy  and  effects  of  the  Quebec  Act.  One  of  the 
main  bases  of  both  the  arguments  for  and  the  later  oft- 
expressed  approval  of  that  measure,  was  the  belief  that 
the  establishment  thereby  of  the  French  civil  law  and  pro- 
cedure, as  relieving  the  French  Canadians  from  the  griev- 
ious  oppression  of  a  foreign  code,  would  be  and  was  most 
effective  in  so  inspiring  them  with  gratitude  as  to  keep 
them  loyal  to  the  British  connection.  We  shall  see  later 
that  they  were  not  loyal;  we  have  now  to  consider  whether 
the  Quebec  Act  could  really  be  expected  to  have  the  effect 
attributed  to  it.  And  so  far  as  the  present  matter  is  con- 
cerned, it  will  be  found  that  the  French  Canadians  were 
not  suffering  from  legal  oppression  in  any  sense,  and  that 
therefore  they  could  not  and  did  not  experience  with  the 
Quebec  Act  any  sudden  or  marked  relief.  Gratitude,  or  an 
enlightened  view  of  self-interest  in  connectioa  with  the 
measure  influenced  only  classes  and  individuals  who  did 
not  need  the  additional  reason  for  preferring  the  imperial 
to  the  revolutionary  connection;  the  mass  of  the  people 
perceived  no  such  change  of  conditions  as  to  form  an  off- 
set to  other  very  clearly  discerned  and  most  unpopular 
parts  of  the  enactment. 

That  this  is  a  totally  different  enquiry  from  the  previous 
one  as  to  legal  validity  we  very  soon  discover.  For  a  slight 
investigation  shows  that  neither  the  governmental  nor  the 
popular  opinions  (at  least  among  the  "old  subjects"),  a»  'C 
the  laws  which  were  strictly  valid,  very  much  affected  the 
action  of  the  great  body  of  litigants,  and  that  throughout 
the  period  the  administration  of  civil  justice  was  in  a  state 
of  compromise  and  (from  the  legal  standpoint),  hopeless  con- 


350  BUrj-ETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITTT   OF    WISCONSIN. 

fusion.  Even  the  governmental  opinion  and  practice  on  the 
point  were  sadly  at  variance,  especially  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  period.  Neither  Murray  nor  his  advisers  seem  to  have 
been  troubled  with  any  doubts  as  to  the  validity  in  the 
l^rovince  of  all  English  common  and  much  English  statute 
law,  or  of  their  own  legislative  competence,  within  certain 
limits  as  to  penalties,  to  further  apply  that  law  to  any  ex- 
tent that  might  seem  desirable.  Whether  they  considered 
themselves,  in  the  various  specific  ordinances,  to  be  mak- 
ing English  law  valid  by  express  enactment  of  it,  or  to  be 
merely  regulating  the  machinery  by  which  the  law,  already 
in  force  through  the  fundamental  documents  on  which  the 
civil  government  rested,  was  to  be  put  in  operation,  is  not 
a  matter  of  importance;  I  need  only  refer  again  to  the 
language  of  the  ordinance  of  September  17,  1764,  in  regard 
to  the  legal  principles  which  were  to  guide  the  courts.' 
These  provisions  remained  in  force  throughout  the  whole 
period,  legally  affected  only  by  the  slight  compromises 
shortly  to  be  mentioned;  for  even  the  ordinance  of  1770, 
which  was  intended  radically  to  amend  that  of  1764,  and 
which  was  passed  by  a  governor  and  council  fully  con- 
vinced that  French  civil  law  was  about  to  be  re-established, 
and  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  makes  no  at- 
tempt whatever  to  anticipate  events.  And  it  is  also  to  be 
noticed  that  up  to  1770  the  justices  of  the  peace  had 
authority  to  exercise  the  very  large  civi?  power  which  it 
was  the  object  of  that  ordinance  to  take  from  them,  accord- 
ing to  a  form  of  commission  unmistakably'  based  on  the 
English  law,  directing  the  recipient  to  uct  '  according  to 
the  laws  and  customs  of  England,  or  form  of  tho  ordinances 
and  statutes  of  England,  and  of  our  Province  of  Quebec."  ' 
Even  in  these  commissions,  however,  there  are  indications 
of  that  policy  of  compromise  and  withdrawal  in  regard  to 
English  law  which  was  one  of  the  guiding  principles  of 

iSee  above,  p.  345. 

*  See  Muijdreii,  CommUnions,  pp.  135-8. 


COFFIN— THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7G.  351 

Carleton's  executive  administration;  it  is  further  manifest  in 
many  ways  that  Murray  had  also  pursued  this  policy  more 
or  less  from  the  very  first.  We  find  in  the  fundamental 
judiciary  ordinance  of  1764  provision  made  that  in  the 
court  of  Common  Pleas  the  French  laws  and  customs  shall 
be  admitted  in  all  causes  between  French  Canadians  "  where 
the  cause  of  action  arose  before  October  1,  170-1;"  and  in 
an  amending  ordinance  a  few  weeks  later,  entitled  "  An 
Ordinance  for  quieting  people  in  their  possessions,"  it  is 
ordained  that  until  August  10,  1765,  the  tenures  of  lands 
granted  before  the  conquest  and  all  rights  of  inheritance 
in  the  same,  should  remain  as  they  had  been  under  the 
French  "  unless  they  shall  be  altered  by  some  declared  and 
positive  law."  No  such  law  was  ever  enacted,  and  thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  even  for  those  who  maintained  the  valid- 
ity of  the  provincial  legislation,  the  legal  side  of  the  posi- 
tion assumed  a  very  confusing  and  indefinite  aspect.'  Cer- 
tainly the  popular  opinions  as  to  the  bounds  of  valid  law 
were  of  the  most  diverse  and  clashing  forms,  and  the  in- 
definiteness  and  perplexity  thus  created  was  one  of  the 
chief  grievances  of  the  period.  The  confusion  of  opinion 
and  practice  on  these  points  is  referred  to  by  Thurlow  in 
the  Quebec  Act  debates  as  beyond  all  description ;  another 
speaker  asserts  that  this  confusion  had  never  been  so  great 
as  at  that  time  (1774).^  Lord  Lyttleton  in  his  "Letter  to 
the  Earl  of  Chatham  on  the  Quebec  Bill,"  (1774),  draws  a 
striking  picture  of  the  almost  anarchical  state  of  things  in 
the  province, —  a  picture  which  is  of  interest  mainly  as 
showing  how  matters  were  presented  to  the  English 
public'    For  that  it  must  be  a  greatly  exaggerated  one  is 

•  Soa  Carleton's  ovidenco,  1774,  as  to  tlie  confusion  in  laws  of  property.  (Cavendish, 
MeiKirt.) 

•  Which  is  to  be  expected  from  tlie  increasinf?  diversence  l)otween  the  practice  and 
policy  of  Kovernment  and  its  constitutional  and  leffal  bases  of  action. 

•  The  letter  is  in  defense  of  the  Bill.  It  as.serts  that  in  Canada  "  the  French  laws  pre- 
vailed alone  till  1764,  wlien  the  English  laws  pot  a  footing.  Tlie  governors  and  oiHcors  of 
justice  [were]  always  doubtful  which  to  take  for  their  guide,  sometimes  preferring  the 
English,  sometimes  the  French  laws,  as  each  seemed  applicable  to  the  case  before  them. 


352  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

shown  by  several  reflections  It  was  in  the  first  place  the 
interest  of  the  government  party,  as  upholding  the  Quebec 
Act,  to  give  a  strong  impression  of  the  V)ad  state  of  things 
in  Canada;  the  opposition  on  the  other  hand  denied  the 
state  of  chaos  represented.  It  will  be  remembered,  more- 
over, that  a  state  of  things  which  to  lawyers  in  England, 
acquainted  only  with  the  imperfect  and  contradictory  docu- 
ments on  which  government  had  been  constituted,  and  with 
the  complaints  of  partisans,  might  seem  confused  and 
dangerous  to  the  last  degree,  in  the  peculiar  state  of 
Canada  was  not  likely  to  prove  so  fatal.  The  condition  of 
things  here  described  would  seem  certain  to  paralyse  all 
energy  and  prevent  all  progress  in  the  province;  but  we 
do  not  find  in  fact  these  results.  Industry  and  enterprise 
were  undoubtedly  much  hampered;  but  yet  the  only  de- 
partment of  commerce  that  did  not  largely  increase  was  the 
fur  trade,  and  this  was  injured  and  impeded  not  so  much 
by  the  confusion  of  law  that  prevailed  in  Quebec  as  by  the 
want  of  all  law  in  the  regions  outside  its  jurisdiction. 

How  then  was  the  province  preserved  from  the  natural 
consequences  of  the  confusion  and  uncertainty  that  cer- 
tainly did  exist?  Partly  from  the  fact  that  on  the  basis  of 
a  compromise  system  initiated  by  the  government  itself, 
and  more  than  connived  at  in  the  courts,  litigation  con- 
tinued to  be  conducted  chiefly  according  to  the  old  laws; 
mainly  perhaps  because  the  mass  of  the  people  resorted 
but  slightly  to  the  established  courts.  I  have  shown  above 
that  during  the  military  period  the  PVench  law  and 
customs  seem  to  have  been  closely  followed  wherever  they 
could  be  discovered.  A  close  study  of  the  later  period 
leads  to  the  conviction  that,  in  at  least  all  matters  affect- 
ing private  property  (i.  e.,  in  almost  all  the  matters  in  re- 

One  ypar  a  proclamation,  another  year  an  instruction  to  a  Rovernor,  another  year  a  local 
ordinance,  changed  the  principle  and  varied  the  course  of  their  judiciary  proceedings. 
In  thlR  fluctuation  no  man  knew  by  what  ripht  he  conld  take  or  pive,  inherit  <)r  convey, 
property ;  or  by  what  mode  or  rule  he  could  bring  his  right  to  a  trial"  (Pamphlets,  Can. 
Archives,  VoL  62.) 


COFFIX — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-7H.  353 

gard  to  which  nine-tenths  of  the  people  would  be  likely  to 
come  into  contact  with  the  administration  of  civil  justice), 
these  laws  and  customs  continued  to  be  given  validity  even 
in  the  highest  courts.  Under  the  fundamental  ordinances 
quoted  above,  such  validity  could  not  be  denied  in  a  large 
number  of  cases.  In  all  cases,  moreover,  a  large  discre- 
tionary power  could  be  used  in  the  court  of  Common  Pleas 
through  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the  clauses  directing  its 
action;  and  much  scattered  evidence  could  be  brought  for- 
ward to  show  that  the  law  administered  in  this  court  was 
French  law  wherever  the  use  of  English  would  have 
seemed  to  work  injustice.  In  regard  to  the  court  of  King's 
Bench,  which  was  supposed  to  be  adhering  to  English  law 
with  special  closeness  and  to  be  bound  to  reverse  appealed 
judgments  founded  on  any  other,  we  have  the  direct  evi- 
dence of  Chief  Justice  Hev  before  the  Commons  in  1774, 
that  in  all  suits  respecting  property  Canadian  law  and 
customs  had  been  fully  admitted  by  him,  and  that  juries  in 
the  court  had  always  been  in  the  habit  of  regarding  these 
customs  as  fully  as  juries  in  England  regarded  English 
ones.  Further,  that  in  appeal  cases,  (to  which  the  court 
was  practically  confined),  he  had  always  determined  by  the 
rules  on  which  the  case  had  been  originally  decided.  In 
what  seems  without  doubt  to  be  his  report  on  the  judica- 
ture in  1769,'  after  stating  the  legal  changes  that  had  been 
worked  by  the  supposed  introduction  of  English  law  in 
1764,  he  adds  that  "these  things  have  not  yet  been  prac- 
ticed,"—  a  statement  which  would  seem  to  refer  to  the 
whole  judicial  administration.  Mas6res  testifies  in  1774 
that  no  inconvenience  has  as  yet  been  occasioned  in  the 
province  by  the  English  laws  so  far  as  they  had  been  ex- 
perienced through  the  decision  of  the  courts;  adding  that 
if  these  had  been  enforced  in  regard  to  landed  property 
great  uneasiness  and  confusion  would  doubtless  have  re- 

1  .Anonymous  paper  ia  Lower  Cauada  Jurist,  VoL  1. 


354  BULLETIN  OF   IIIE  UNIVEllSITY  OF   WISCONSIN. 

suited.  This  statement  is  in  support  of  the  more  explicit 
assertion  in  his  report  of  17GU,  that  in  the  main  with  re- 
gard to  landed  property  the  Canadians  had  universally 
adhered  to  tlieir  former  laws  and  customs.  There  is  nu  re- 
liable evidence  to  be  set  over  against  these  statements, 
made  by  men  who  for  years  had  been  intimately  connected 
with  the  administration  of  justice,  and  who  had  kept 
up  their  relations  with  the  province  during  the  whole 
period;  we  must  conchide  therefore  that  outside  of  strictly 
commercial  matters  even  the  litigious  among  the  French 
Canadians  were  little  if  at  ail  affected  by  English  law. 
That  law  was  used  of  course  in  all  matters  confined  to  the 
old  subjects.  With  regard  to  suits  between  litigants  of 
different  nationalities  it  seems  safe  to  assert  that  Canadian 
land  law  and  customs  were  given  full  validity, —  a  course 
which  would  commend  itself  even  to  the  English  party 
after  the  reversion  in  1770  to  the  French  methods  of 
tenure.  In  commercial  matters  on  the  other  hand  the  Eng- 
lish law  seems  to  have  obtained  without  much  demur;  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  there  was  here  any  such 
divergence  of  principle  as  to  introduce  many  disagreeable 
changes. 

But,  apart  from  the  courts,  it  is  evident  that  the  question 
of  codes  was  not  a  burning  one  among  the  people  at  large, 
for  the  reason  that  the  main  body  had  very  little  to  do 
with  the  administration  of  justice,  civil  or  criminal.'  Carle- 
ton  writes  to  Shelbourne  December  24,  1767,-  that  "The 
people  notwithstanding'  continue  to  regulate  their  tran- 
sactions by  the  ancient  laws,  tho'  unknown  and  unauthor- 
ized in  the  Supreme  Courts,  where  most  of  their  transactions 
would  be  declared  invalid. "     He  adds  that  he  has  met  only 

'  Carleton  testified  before  tiie  House  of  Commons  in  1774  thiit  tliere  were  very  few 
trials  for  oflences  oM  tlie  part  of  the  common  people. 

»  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  316. 

•That  is,  of  the  use  or  establislimont  of  English  law  in  the  courts.  Carleton  is  writing 
at  the  tad  of  the  pericwl  during  which  the  Anglo-legal  movement  had  been  freshest  and 
strongest,  and  the  last  part  of  the  statement  is  shown  above  to  be  incorrect. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  17(iO-7(i.        355 

one  Canadian  "who  sees  the  great  revolution  [i.  e.,  in  law] 
in  its  full  influence.  "  This  evidently  means  that  the  Cana- 
dians kept  clear  of  the  courts,  making  use  of  their  former 
laws  and  customs  through  the  aid  of  those  persons  who 
had  in  large  measure  arranged  their  difficulties  during  the 
military  period.'  Maseres  in  1774  says  the  greater  part  of 
the  French  Canadians  remain  ignorant  of  the  extent  of  the 
changes  and  have  proceeded  in  regard  to  their  lands  on 
the  assumption  that  the  ancient  laws  and  usages  were  still 
in  force.  And  as  he  goes  on  to  say  that  no  litigation  has 
yet  arisen  to  give  occasion  for  decisions  which  would  make 
them  better  informed,  we  must  conclude  that  he  means 
they  had  not  in  these  matters  resorted  to  the  courts.  In 
the  Quebec  Act  debate  Attorney-General  Thurlow  made  the 
statement  (uncontradicted),  that  "  if  any  dispute  arose 
there  was  no  instance  of  the  Canadians  resorting  to  the 
English  Courts  of  Justice,  but  they  referred  it  among  them- 
selves."-' These  statements  are  supported  by  indirect  evi- 
dence and  justify  us  in  concluding  that  the  main  body  of 
French  Canadian  litigants  had  not  resorted  to  the  courts, 
but  had  used  through  private  instrumentalities  their  old 
property  laws  and  customs. 

The  main  conclusion  I  have  reached  therefore  is  that, 
for  the  various  reasons  discussed  above,  the  judicial  con- 
ditions existing  in  Canada  up  to  and  at  1774  were  not  such 
as  to  cause  the  formal  re-establishment  of  the  old  civil  law 
by  the  Quebec  Act  to  affect  the  mass  of  the  people  in  any 
considerable  degree.  But  nevertheless  the  situation  was 
one  of  such  confusion  and  uncertainty  as  made  imperative 
some  decided  act  of  settlement.  It  may  justly  be  urged 
that,  even  in  the  absence  of  material  grievances,  the  very 
fact  that  the  Canadians  kept  aloof  from  the  courts  showed 

1  See  here  also  tlie  evidence  before  Commons,  1774,  to  the  effect  that  the  noblesse  kept 
outof  the  courtu  from  pride,  and  resorted  to  arbitration. 

'Cavendish,  p.  31.  Tliurlow  was  speaking  from  a  partizan  standpoint,  but  he  had  got- 
ten up  Canadian  affair  thorouplily,  having  prepared  an  elaborate  report  after  ezamina- 
tion  of  all  the  avp.ilable  material 


356  BULLETIN  OP  THE  CNIVERHITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

a  degree  of  dissatisfaction  or  distrust,  if  not  dread,  that 
called  for  immediate  action.  Moreover,  that  much  friction 
and  complaint  existed  cannot  bo  denied.  But  a  close  ex- 
amination of  the  manifestations  of  this  will  show  that  it 
was  in  large  degree  really  political  in  origin,  or  that  it 
was  inspired  not  so  much  by  oppression  in  the  every  day 
operation  of  law  as  by  uncertainty  with  regard  to  the 
future.  It  is  rather  the  apprehension  of  the  educated  and 
intelligent  non-litigant '  than  the  specific  cry  of  the  actu- 
ally aggrieved.  Where  it  is  really  the  latter  it  will  be 
found  again  that  it  is  the  expression  of  dissatisfaction  with, 
not  new  law,  actual  or  supposed,  but  new  procedure.  For 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  latter  contrasted  very  un- 
favorably with  the  old  in  regard  to  the  essential  features 
of  expense  and  expedition.  So  far  as  English  features 
were  at  all  responsible  it  is  probable  that  the  peasantry 
were  kept  from  the  English  courts  by  these  more  evident 
changes  and  not  by  legal  differences  of  which  they  were 
wholly  ignorant.-  In  the  letter  quoted  above,  Carleton, 
after  his  strong  statement  as  to  the  ignorance  of  the  peo- 
ple in  regard  to  the  great  legal  changes  and  their  avoid- 
ance of  the  courts,  adds,  "  The  present  great  and  universal 
complaint'  arises  from  the  delay  and  heavy  expense  of 
justice, "  the  courts  having  "  introduced  all  the  chicanery  of 
Westminster  into  this  impoverished  Province. "  The  judic- 
iary under  the  old  regime  had  been  the  most  praiseworthy 
part  of  the  administration,  being  effective,  easy  of  access,  and 
marked  especially  by  expedition  and  inexpensive  methods. 
It  had  been  largely  and  beneficially  inspired  by  the  old 
French  paternal  attitude,  the  judges  being  always  ready  to 
interpose  for  settlement  without  the  expense  of  a  trial.  In 

I  Neither  noblesse  nor  clergy  went  into  the  courts. 

'  See  especially  on  this  point  the  evirtonce  of  the  provincial  offlcers  before  the  Com- 
mons, 1774.    (Cavendish,  Report.) 

'  A  Rood  instance  of  tlie  carelessness  and  ezaggeration  of  the  official  language  of  the 
time.  His  own  previous  statement  would  sliow  that  such  complaint  must  have  been 
confined  practically  to  the  upper  or  educated  classes. 


COFFIN — THE  PRnVINCE'OP  QUEHEr,    17G0-7»).  857 

all  these  points  the  change  was  decidedly  for  the  worse, 
and  taken  in  connection  with  the  unfamiliar  appearance  of 
even  the  better  i)arts  of  the  new  procedure,  make  it  un- 
necessary to  look  further  for  the  full  explanation  of  what- 
ever specific  complaint  or  general  apprehension  is  to  be 
met  with.  With  regard  to  seigneurial  jurisdiction,  it  is  not 
probable  that  the  new  regime  had  made  any  very  notice- 
able difference.  For  though  Parkman  seems  to  think  that 
the  lower  forms  of  that  jurisdiction  continued  to  be  exer- 
cised in  Canada  down  to  the  conquest,  Carleton  asserts  that 
at  that  time  there  were  hardly  three  feudal  judges  in  the 
whole  province.'  Ard  at  all  times  there  had  been  an  ap- 
peal from  the  seigneurial  to  the  royal  courts  in  all  matters 
involving  more  than  one-half  a  crown.  With  regard  to  the 
reception  and  use  by  the  Canadians  of  the  most  important 
feature  of  the  changed  procedure, — the  jury,  —  we  have 
the  most  conflicting  statements;  but  Burke's  opinion-  that 
they  had  expressed  no  dislike  of  the  new  institution,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  seems  thoroughly  well-grounded. 

As  to  the  general  civil  servit^e,  I  need  delay  here  only 
on  those  features  which  would  affect  the  popular  estin  a- 
tion  of  the  new  regime.  The  great  abuses  of  the  later 
French  administration  might  be  expected  to  insure  a 
favorable  reception  even  of  the  very  imperfect  English  one ; 
but  nevertheless  we  meet  with  considerable  complaint. 
The  main  cause  of  this  was  the  fact  that  the  more  import- 
ant positions,  being  tilled  by  patent  from  the  home  gov- 
ernment, were  practically  independent  of  the  provincial 
administration,  and  wre  almost  always  executed  by 
deputy,  the  appointees  renting  them  out  to  the  highest 
bidder.  The  abuse  is  succinctly  and  strongly  put  by 
Murray  in  March,  1765.  He  writes:  "The  places  of  the 
greatest  business  in  the  province  have  been  granted  by 
patent  to  men  of  interest  in  England,  who  have  hired  them 

1  The  statement  is  supported  by  strong  contemporary  evidence. 
"  Cavendish,  Report. 
6 


358  BUI-LKTlN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY    OK    WISCONSIN 

to  the  best  bidder,  without  considering  the  talents  or  cir- 
cumstances of  their  representatives.  One  man  (e.  g. )  who 
cannot  read  a  word  of  French,  holds  five  such  oflices.  ' ' 
And  in  his  defense  at  the  close  of  his  administration  he  at- 
tributes the  difticulties  of  government  largely  to  "  the  im- 
proper choice  and  the  number  of  the  civil  officers  sent  over 
from  England,"  not  one  of  whom  understood  French,  and 
the  compensation  of  whom  depended  entirely  on  their 
fees.  Power  of  supervision  and  suspension  was  indeed 
given  to  the  governor,  but  that  this  was  not  sutlicient  for 
the  remedying  of  the  evil  is  shown  by  Carleton's  letter  to 
the  treasury,  January  12,  1775,  just  at  the  close  of  the  old 
order  of  things.  In  this  he  speaks  of  the  misfortunes 
hitherto  attendant  on  the  Provincial  government,  in  that 
the  inferior  officers,  "  proud  of  the  superior  weight  and  in- 
fluence of  the  Boards  from  whence  their  Commissions 
issue,"  and  relying  for  protection  on  their  patrons,  "al- 
most lose  every  idea  of  that  subordination  so  essential  to 
good  order,"  and  are  in  all  measures  of  the  colonial  ad- 
ministration "  for  the  most  part  cold  and  at  best  neutral. "  ^ 
This  was  written  in  the  belief  that  the  operation  of  the 
Quebec  Act  would  remedy  the  evil;  for  though  no  direct 
mention  is  made  of  the  matter  in  that  Act  or  in  the  in- 
structions that  accompanied  it,  Carleton  refers  later  to  the 
clause  in  it  "which  vacated  all  commissions,"  as  being  "in 
consequence  of  complaints; '  it  being  thereby  intended  "to 
put  a  stop  to  all  deputations,  and  to  compell  all  who  had 
offices  here  to  reside  and  do  their  duty  in  person."  It  is 
evident  that  there  was  here  a  very  serious  abuse,  capable 
of  paralyzing  the  best  efforts  of  government. 

Inseparably  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  patent  of- 
fices is  the  matter  of  fees  in  general.  For  as  Murray  said 
in  1766  the  compensation  to  the  deputies  at  least  depended 
entirely  on  what  could  be  wrung  from  the  people  and  the 

>  Cnn.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  377. 
»Can.  Arcb.,  Q.  n,p.  122. 


COFFIN— THE  PROVINCE  OK  QUEHEC,    17(!0    70.  359 

government  in  this  form.  IL  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
that  those  fees  were  upon  a  scale  of  unheard  of  extortion; 
indeed  Carleton,  their  most  determined  opponent,  expressly 
states  that  they  were  not  greater  than  in  the  other  prov- 
inces,' and  Murray  declares  that  ho  was  ordered  by  his  in- 
structions to  establish  them  on  that  scale.-'  The  hardship 
consisted  in  the  fact  that  a  system  which  had  been  adapted 
to  the  ability  of  the  moijt  prosperous  of  the  other  provinces 
was  suddenly  fastened  upon  one  utterly  impoverished,  and 
with  a  people  unused  to  such  payments.  The  heaviness  of 
the  burden  is  apparent  in  every  direction.  May  14,  1767, 
Carleton  writes,  "Upon  my  arrival  not  a  Canadian  ap- 
proached me  that  did  not  complain  of  the  number  of  fees 
demanded,  and  particularly  of  the  exorbitant  expenses 
that  attended  the  obtaining  any  redress  by  law;"  adding 
that  the  fees  on  the  registering  of  land  alone  (a  require- 
ment which  ultimately  was  not  enforced,  probably  from 
this  reason),  would  have  amounted  to  more  than  double  the 
current  coin  of  the  province.  He  encloses  a  copy  of  the 
fees  as  fixed  upon  by  Murray  and  the  Council  in  1765 ;  —  a 
document  of  about  twenty  closely  written  pages  of  large 
foolscap,  the  fees  ranging  all  the  way  from  ^6  to  3d,  and  the 
total  number  of  otficial  acts  so  to  be  renainerated  being 
about  350.  The  tendency  of  Murray's  administration  was 
not  to  restrain  such  expenses,'  but  Carleton  from  the  first 
resolutely  set  his  face  against  them,  and  one  of  his  earliest 
acts  was  to  relinquish  his  own  personal  fees.*  His  vigorous 
statements  wei'e  not  wholly  disregarded  by  the  home  gov- 
ernment, but  no  decided  measures  of  alleviation  were 
adopted  at  any  time  within  our  present  view.  The  heed- 
less injustice  which  had  ordered  the  fees  to  be  established 
on  the  same  scale  as  in  the  other  colonies  seems  indeed  to 
have  been  early  repented  of,  for  in  the  instructions  of  the 

1  To  Shelbourno,  May  U,  1767.    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  17a) 

"Can.  Arch,,  Cal.  IlaM.  Coll.,  p.  92. 

'  See  Advertisement ot  the  Council,  Aug.  12, 176f.    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  812.) 

*  See  Rep,  Can.  Arclt.,  1890,  p.  xiii.    Also  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  pp.  445-82. 


360  BULLETIN  OP  THE  TTNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Receiver  General  early  in  1706  it  is  ordered  that  the  salaries 
and  profits  of  the  inferior  officials  connected  with  the 
Provincial  treasury  shall  be  no  greater  than  under  the 
French  government.  In  July,  1768,  Hillsborough  writes  to 
Carleton  in  answer  to  his  representations  of  abu.ses,  that 
the  king  is  determined  to  stop  the  evils  connected  both 
with  the  patent  offices  and  with  the  fe9S  in  general;  that 
the  subject  has  been  laid  before  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 
that  in  the  meantime  he  is  to  make  temporary  regulations 
for  the  restraining  of  fees  within  bounds.'  The  new  in- 
structions of  the  same  year  contain,  however,  only  the  in- 
definite direction  "  to  take  especial  care  to  regulate  all 
salaries  and  fees  belonging  to  jilaces,  or  paid  upon  emer- 
gencies, that  they  be  within  the  limits  of  moderation. "  It 
is  most  probably  in  pursuance  of  this  recommendation  that 
we  find  an  entry  in  the  public  accounts  for  the  first  half  of 
1769,  of  a  payment  to  the  Chief  Justice  of  A' 100  "  in  lieu  of 
fees,  at  the  rate  of  £200  per  annum."  In  April,  1770,  we 
hear  of  a  committee  which  has  "  the  fees  of  the  public  offi- 
cers of  this  province  under  consideration;"  but  nothing 
seems  to  have  been  then  effected,  and  for  the  remaining 
four  years  the  matter,  with  all  similar  ones,  awaited  the 
expected  radical  change  in  constitution. 

D.     Finances. 

It  remains  only  to  make  a  brief  statement  as  to  the 
finances  of  the  provincial  administration.  It  is  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  financial  condition  of  Quebec  as  contrasted 
with  that  of  the  other  Crown  Provinces  that  we  have 
brought  home  to  us  most  vividly  its  peculiar  and  dependent 
position.  In  all  the  others,  financial  affairs  were,  through  the 
Assemblies,  in  the  hands  of  ine  people,  and  outside  of  the 
customs  Great  Britain  had,  normally,  neither  control  nor 
expense.  In  Quebec  on  the  other  hand  not  only  was  the 
revenue  (the  word  is  here  a  misnomer),  almost  entirely  fur- 

iCan.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  60^. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7G.  301 

nishecl  and  expended'  by  the  home  government  directly, 
but  the  probability  is  that  but  a  very  small  part  of  it  had 
any  connection  with  the  province  as  a  source.  We  have 
seen  that  the  Quebec  legislative  authority  was  from  the 
first  expressly  prohibited  from  "  imposing  any  duty  or 
tax;"  and  that  the  Council  was  more  mindful  of  this  in- 
junction than  of  other  such  restraints  is  shown  directly  by 
entries  in  the  Council  minutes,-  and  by  the  fact  that  none 
of  the  ordinances  disregard  it.  This  restriction  was  to  be 
in  force  only  till  an  Assembly  should  form  part  of  the 
legislature;  but  that  it  was  intended  even  then  to  keep  a 
large  measure  of  control  over  the  finances,  and  thus  to  pre- 
vent the  growth  of  the  obstacles  which  beset  the  royal  path 
in  the  other  provinces  from  this  key  to  the  situation  hav- 
ing fallen  entirely  into  colonial  hands,  is  probably  shown 
by  the  directions  concerning  legislation  embodied  in  the 
instructions  of  1768.' 

It  is  evident  that  if  my  argument  as  to  the  legislative 
power  subsequent  to  the  Proclamation  of  1763  be  correct, 
revenue  could  be  legally  drawn  from  the  province  during 
the  period  only  through  the  customs,  or  through  such  other 
special  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  Crown  as  wei'e  at- 
tached to  it  under  the  French  regime,  and  might  be  con- 
tended to  have  passed  over  unimpaired  with  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  country.  I  say  other  special  rights,  for  it  is 
clear  from  Lord  Mansfield's  judgment  that  the  only  cus- 
toms duties  that  could  be  collected  were  those  which  had 
been  found  in  force  at  the  conquest,*  and  it  seems  equally 
certain  that  there  is  no  radical  distinction  between  these 
and  such  other  dues  as  lands  (e.  g.)  had  hitherto  been  sub- 
ject to.  All  together  would  seem  to  have  been  simply 
transferred  in  the  same  manner  as  other  public  property, 

'  At  least  after  1766,  wlien  the  Receiver  General  was  appointed. 
•Can.  Arch.,  Q.  3,  pp.  160-70;  Q.  8,  p.  126. 
•  See  below  for  general  discussion,  chapter  V,  section  C. 

♦See  resolution  of  Imperial  Privy  Council,  Nov. 22, 1765,  concerning  requiring  of  old 
daties.    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  472.)    See  also  below  for  suits  against  Murray  in  1768. 


362  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

and  it  is  only  on  the  impossible  supposition  that  all  French 
law  and  custom  had  been  by  the  conquest  and  cession  im- 
mediately abrogated  that  the  right  of  the  crown  to  them 
could  be  disputed.  But  these  principles  seem  not  to  have 
been  clear  to  the  authorities  at  the  time.  Action  in  regard 
to  the  old  land  dues  was  no  doubt  hindered  further  by  the 
confusion  and  uncertainty  that  prevailed  as  to  the  laws  in 
general,  and  it  seems  certain  that  no  revenue  was  derived 
from  this  source  at  any  part  of  the  period.  The  new  rents 
from  soccage  lands,  and  the  profits  from  the  judiciary,  we 
may  also  regard  as  not  worth  consideration.  The  fur  trade 
monopoly  in  the  northeast  had  been  a  considerable  source 
of  profit  to  the  French  government,  and  had  passed  un- 
questioned to  the  English;  but  it  was  leased  through  the 
whole  of  this  period  for  £400  per  annum. 

The  only  remaining  source  of  revenue  was  the  customs, 
and  it  is  to  this  quarter  that  we  must  look  for  any  appre.i- 
able  lightening  of  the  burden  of  the  English  taxpayer. 
Unfortunately,  though  the  references  to  duties  are  frequent, 
and  though  they  received  the  careful  attention  of  govp':n- 
ment  from  the  first,  we  have  no  conclusive  reports  as  to 
the  amounts  actually  collected.  On  the  conquest  duties 
had  been  imposed  by  the  commanding  officer  and  levied 
until  the  establishment  of  the  civil  government;  the  rates 
required  being  slightly  in  excess  of  the  old  French  ones, 
and  the  whole  amount  thus  collected  being  stated  as 
£11,000  sterling.  In  1768  actions  for  recovery  were  brought 
against  the  governor  in  the  British  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
on  the  ground  that  the  military  government  had  no  author- 
ity to  impose  duties ;  but  on  it  being  shown  that  these  were 
substantially  the  same  as  those  fixed  by  the  French,  the 
plaintiffs  agreed  to  accept  a  verdict  only  for  the  excess. 
In  accordance  with  this  verdict  we  meet  with  various 
entries  in  the  Quebec  Council  minutes  in  1770  of  orders  for 
repayments  of  this  excess  to  various  other  complainants, 
the  sum  repaid  amounting  in  all  to  £2,000.     So  that  it  re- 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  363 

suits  that  the  duties  levied  during  the  first  four  years  of 
the  occupation  (when  commerce  was  of  course  very  much 
depressed),  would  yield  about  t'2,000  per  annum.  This 
amount  we  should  expect  to  be  largely  increased  during 
the  later  years;  but  there  is  no  probability  that  anything 
was  collected  under  the  civil  government.'  A  Provincial 
proclamation  of  May,  17135,  seems  to  be  intended  to  apply 
the  Imperial  customs  Act  of  the  previous  year;  but  as  more 
than  a  month  later  Murray  reports  that  he  is  and  will  be 
"entirely  at  a  loss  how  to  carry  on  the  business  of  gov- 
ernment without  money,  "^  it  seems  to  have  effected  no 
change  in  the  situation.  In  July  of  the  same  year  the 
home  government  took  the  finances  of  the  province  more 
directly  under  control  by  the  appointment  of  a  receiver- 
general,  who  was  to  be  independent  of  the  provincial  ad- 
ministration, was  to  receive  all  moneys  and  warrant  all  ex- 
penditures, and  was  to  report  directly  to  the  Treasury. 
His  instructions  '  direct  him  to  collect  the  old  French 
duties,  and  in  doing  so,  "  to  strictly  conform  himself  to  the 
ancient  customs  and  usages  of  the  said  country  before  it 
was  conquered  by  His  Majesty. "  Of  the  receipts  the  sur- 
plus, after  "  defraying  the  expenses  of  civil  officers  and 
contingencies  of  government  in  the  Province,"  was  to  be 
remitted  home.  The  only  result  apparently  of  the  new 
official's  efforts  were  the  ineffectual  actions  against  the 
English  traders  which  have  been  discussed  above.* 

From  this  consideration  of  the  various  possible  sources 
of  provincial  revenue,  we  may  conclude  that  the  amount 
derived  therefrom  was  so  slight  as  to  make  very  little  dif- 
ference to  the  Imperial  treasury.     As  to  the  total  expenses 

'  Murray  writes  to  tlu<  Hoard  of  Triiiie,  March  '.i,  1765,  tliat  ho  has  long  t^xiwcted  in  vaia 
"the  decision  of  the  rum  duties,"  and  does  not  know  "how  Boverunient  is  to  bo  carried 
on  here  without  a  shilliiiR.  I  am  little  solicitous  about  my  own  salary,  the  amount  of 
which  is  still  unlcuown  to  me,  but  the  ludiKenceof  the  jud^e  and  other  oilicers  gentfrom 
England  is  equally  alarming  and  hurtful  to  the  public."     (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  377.) 

'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  424. 

'See  Mas^res,  CaiiDiiisaions,  pp.  15ft-9. 

*  Pp.  313-16. 


364  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

of  the  civil  establishment  we  have  no  definite  statements, 
but  from  various  references  it  may  be  concluded  that  they 
were  about  the  same  as  under  the  last  years  of  the  French 
regime.'  Masiires  states  that  the  amount  drawn  yearly  on 
this  account  from  the  Imperial  treasury  was  about  €10,000. 
In  the  "Returns  on  Public  Income  and  Expenditure," 
(printed  for  House  of  Commons,  1869).  Quebec  is  specially 
mentioned  only  for  the  year  1768,  when  an  item  of  £6,722 
is  set  down  for  its  civil  establishment.  The  "Annual  Reg- 
ister "  and  "  Parliamentary  History, "  which  apparently  aim 
to  give  detailed  financial  statements  from  year  to  year,  do 
not  afford  any  further  light,  no  direct  mention  being  made 
of  Quebec,  although  there  are  given  regularly  the  esti- 
mates for  the  civil  establishment,  not  only  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  Georgia,  but  also  of  East  and  West  Florida,  which  had 
been  granted  civil  constitutions  at  the  same  time  and  in 
the  same  manner  as  Quebec.  The  only  explanation  seems 
to  be  that  (in  accordance  with  the  general  neglect  and 
mismanagement  of  Canadian  affairs),  owing  to  the  prom- 
inence of  the  military  service  in  Quebec,  the  accounts 
were  included  under  military  heads.  The  civil  list  estab- 
lished in  1775  (see  Carleton's  instructions),  amounted  to 
about  £18,000,  and  of  this  about  £8,000  can  be  directly  at- 
tributed to  additional  expenses  caused  by  the  enlarged 
sphere  of  government  under  the  Quebec  Act.  This  then 
brings  us  back  to  Maseres'  estimate. 

1  Murray  states  (Hi  port,  I'S'i),  that  in  1757  the  total  civil  pxpeusi\s  of  tlio  Fronch  ad- 
ministration amounted  to  £11,158.  The  revenue  of  tlie  same  year  (apparently  drawn 
mainly  from  the  fur  trade),  was  £13,901. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17t»0-7»).  365 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SPIRIT  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ADMINISTRATION. 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  have  attempted  a  description 
of  the  surface  conditions  of  government  in  the  Provir,  je  of 
Quebec  throughout  our  period, —  such  a  description  as 
might  have  been  given  by  a  contemporary,  especially  a 
contemporary  official.  My  object  in  the  present  chapter  is 
to  go  behind  the  scenes,  and  examine  the  animating  spirit 
under  the  official  forms,  with  special  reference  to  develop- 
ment in  the  bases  of  action.  In  so  doing  regard  will  be 
had  mainly  and  constantly  to  the  Quebec  Act  as  the  centre 
of  the  inquiry,  with  the  purpose  of  seeing  what  light,  if 
any,  may  thus  be  thrown  on  its  genesis  and  intent. 

A.     The  Colonial  Governors. 

My  investigation  here  has  therefore  to  do  almost  en- 
tirely with  the  Home  or  Imperial  Administration.  But,  as 
the  chief  of  the  influences  brought  to  bear  on  that  author- 
ity, it  will  be  necessary  first  to  consider  the  general  spirit 
and  policy  of  the  heads  of  the  colonial  government.'  It  is 
evident  that  a  large  discretion  was  necessarily  always  left 
to  the  Provincial  Governor;  but  the  normal  limits  of  this 
discretion  were  at  th^stime  in  the  case  of  Quebec  much  ex- 
tended from  the  fact  that  during  the  early  part  of  the 
period  the  home  government  had  no  decided  or  consistent 

These  were,  (a)  (icn.  Jntnes  Miirnii/  (1725V— 179-1),  youiiRer  sou  of  a  Scotch  peer.  Bng- 
adipr  with  Wolfo  at  capture  of  QuhVh'C  and  h-ft  in  chnrRc  of  the  conquon'd  i)roviuco 
dnrtnR  the  MUitary  Period,  ho  was  <ioveruor-in-Cliii'f  from  Auk.  10,  17^4,  to  Oct.  26,  1768, 
but  left  tlie  couutry  finally  in  June,  1766. 

(bl  C<il.  Quji  C'arleton  (17124-1808),  of  an  Irish  family,  was  at  tlio  sieRP  of  Louisbourg 
and  Quebec,  and  came  to  the  province  as  Lieutenant-Ooveruor,  September,  1768.  He 
held  that  poaition  until  October,  1768,  when  ho  become  govemor-iu-chief,  so  continuinK 
till  June,  1778,  though  absent  from  the  province  August  1st,  1770-September  18,  1774. 
Made  Baron  Dorchester  and  reappointed  to  Canadian  Qoverament,  1786. 


366  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISfONHIN. 

policy,  and  that  in  the  latter  part  the  expectation  of  a 
sj)eedy  general  constitutional  settlement  joined  with  other 
factors  in  causing  a  steady  neglect  of  the  immediate  affairs  of 
the  province.  It  is  therefore  desirable  to  see  in  what  ways 
and  to  what  extent  the  actions  of  the  Home  Administration 
were  based  on  the  representations  of  the  provincial  author- 
ities. 

Gen.  James  Murray  had  been  connected  with  Canada 
from  the  first  hour  of  English  rule  there,  and  when  put  at 
the  head  of  the  new  civil  government  had  had  almost  five 
years'  intimate  knowledge  of  the  country.  If  personal 
characteristics  had  prevented  his  fully  profiting  from  his 
experience,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  integrity,  and  of 
his  strong  desire  to  see  justice  done  and  the  best  interests 
of  the  country  advanced.  As  has  been  shown  above  both 
he  and  the  other  military  commanders  seem  from  the  first 
to  have  made  every  effort,  consistently  with  the  safety  of 
the  new  possession,  to  reconcile  the  Canadians  to  the  new 
rule.  These  same  motives  were  no  doubt  as  strongly 
present  during  his  control  of  the  civil  government.  That 
his  success  was  not  commensurate  with  his  efforts,  and  that 
the  two  years  of  his  civil  administration  were  a  period  of 
constant  turmoil,  cannot,  however,  be  denied;  nor  yet  that 
the  explanation  must  be  largely  found  in  his  personal 
character,  and  in  a  want  of  tact  and  discernment  which 
would  have  insured  failure  in  a  much  less  difiicult  situa- 
tion. He  was  hasty  in  judgment  and  violent  in  temper, 
and  his  military  training  had  prejudiced  him  in  favour  of 
the  old  Canadian  military  aristocracy,  which  he  credited 
with  more  influence  over  the  people  than  it  had  for  a  long 
time  possessed.  The  same  cause  blinded  him  to  the  real 
character  and  importance  of  the  new  English-speaking 
commercial  element.  A  light  is  thrown  on  Murray's 
character  by  some  observations  in  his  own  defence  just 
before  the  installment  of  civil  government.'    After  refer- 

1  To  Board  of  Trade,  AprU  24, 1764.    (Can.  Arcii.,  Q.  2.  p.  107.) 


COFFiN — THE   PBOVINCK  OF  QUEnEC,    17()0-7t5.  'Mil 

ring  to  the  difficulties  that  have  attended  the  military  rule 
owing  to  the  character  of  the  various  sections  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  of  the  caution  he  lias  exercised  in  enforcing 
martial  law,  "knowing  how  jealous  the  people  of  England 
are  of  the  military  arm,  upon  all  occasions,  and  how  eagerly 
they  would  have  laid  hold  of  the  least  sliadowof  blame,"  he 
proceeds  to  speak  of  his  mortification  in  being  "too  often 
obliged  to  substitute  reprimands  from  my  own  mouth  in  place 
of  fines  and  prisons,  choosing  to  risk  my  own  popularity 
rather  than  give  a  handle  to  the  factious.  Hence,  I  find  I  have 
been  reijresented  in  England  a  man  of  a  most  violent,  ungov- 
ernable temper.  '  Unfortunately  for  the  entire  validity  of  this 
ingenuous  defense,  we  find  that  the  violent  manifestations 
of  temper  continued  under  the  civil  government;  and  we 
cannot  but  conclude  that  there  was  too  much  ground  for 
the  complaint  made  in  the  English  petitions  in  1765  of  his 
"  rage  and  rudeness  of  language  and  demeanour.'  In  gen- 
eral, however,  we  find  his  attitude  towards  the  French 
Canadians  to  be  one  of  forbearance  and  magnanimity,^ 
and  the  seigneurs  came  to  look  upon  him  as  their  spec- 
ial protector; '  but  that  even  they  were  not  always  safe 
from  his  irritability  may  be  seen  in  the  memorial  of  the 
Chevalier  de  Lery.*  It  must  indeed  be  conceded  that  few 
positions  could  have  been  more  trying  than  Murray's  at  this 
time."'  He  was  left  without  revenue  or  clear  instructions 
to  carry  on  government  over  a  people  who,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  he  thought  had  conceived  a  slighting  idea  of  his 
position  from  the  fact  that  he  had  been  deprived  of  all 
military  command  in  the  province;  feeling  himself  more- 
over under  compulsion  to  introduce  an  order  of  things 
which  he  considered  in  the  highest  degree  injurious  and 
unjust.     But  making  all  allowances  for  his  difficulties,  we 

1  lirii.  Can.  Ar<-/i.,  18H.H,  p.  l.i. 

'  St'o  lettpr  to  Justices  of  Moutreul,  Oct.  9,  176.'i.     (Can.  Arch.,Q.  3,  p.  90.) 

*Jtrp.  Can.  Arch.,  1888,  p.  9. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  31. 

'See  liis  defense,  August  20th,  1766.     (Can.  Arch.,  B.  8,  p.  1.) 


868  BULLETIN  OK  THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN, 

must  conclude  that  he  was  peculiarly  ill-fitted  to  cope  with 
them,  and  that  his  career  in  Canada  cannot  be  considered 
to  have  been  marked  by  much  discernment  or  administra- 
tive ability. 

Murray's  own  judgment  and  inclination  were  from  the 
first  strongly  opposed  to  any  radical  changes  in  the  civil 
law  and  constitution  of  the  province.  His  views  on  this 
matter  were  probably  closely  connected  with  his  strongly 
expressed  opinion  that  the  civil  governor  in  Quebec  ought 
also  to  have  the  chief  military  command.  One  of  his  first 
enactments  was  the  Judiciary  Ordinance  of  September  17, 
1764,  which,  though  evidently  intended  to  give  effect  to 
the  supposed  Imjierial  policy  of  introducing  the  general 
body  of  the  English  law,  was  thought  by  the  English  ex- 
tremists of  the  time  to  have  given  undue  privileges  to  the 
French  Canadian  Catholics.  In  writing  home  in  defense 
of  this  measure '  Murray  strongly  recommends  granting 
the  Canadians  "a  few  privileges  which  the  laws  of  England 
deny  the  Roman  Catholics  at  home.  "  In  the  various  and 
complicated  disputes  with  the  military  authorities  which 
soon  follow,  the  governor  appears  in  a  comparatively 
favourable  light  as  the  upholder  of  civil  law  and  the  pro- 
tector of  the  people  against  the  military;  though  it  is  im- 
possible to  keep  from  feeling  that  his  attitude  was  to  some 
extent  influenced  by  the  strained  nature  of  the  ^.ersonal 
relations  then  existing  between  himself  and  the  military 
ofificers.  Interesting  hints  as  to  his  policy  can  be  got 
from  his  defense  against  some  anonymous  charges  made  in 
1765  or  thereabouts,  chiefly  with  reference  to  the  military 
government.  In  this  he  says  that  it  was  a  maxim  of  his  "  to 
shun  addresses  from  the  traders,"  and  to  consult  the  men 
of  property  in  the  colony  (by  whom  he  means  the  seign- 
eurs,—  the  possessors  of  landed  property),  and  that  be  had 
displeased  the  Protestants  in  trying  to  conciliate  the  Cana- 
dians to  British  rule.     That  his  partiality  for  the  noblesse 

1  Oct.  29, 1764.    Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,   p.  233. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEIJEr,    17(10-70.  IJfiD 

went  beyond  tlio  limits  of  justice  and  good  srovernment 
may  be  conjectured  from  the  reference  in  their  memorial 
in  his  defense  to  "  the  politeness  and  deference  of  this 
governor  for  persons  of  good  birth,  "'  and  from  his  own 
acknowledgment  that  he  did  "  recommend  to  the  magis- 
trates at  Montreal  not  to  billet  any  of  the  soldiers  upon  the 
noblesse,  unless  in  cases  of  the  utmost  necessity," — a  ten- 
derness which  he  adds  they  had  a  right  to  expect  from  the 
regard  paid  to  jteople  of  family  in  all  countries.  And  he 
somewhat  naively  inquires,  "Can  there  be  a  greater  in- 
stance of  the  turbulent,  levelling  spirit  of  my  accusers  than 
this  very  complaint?" 

Though  recalled  in  apparent  disgrace-  Murray  succeeded 
in  vindicating  himself  from  all  the  charges  brought  against 
him,  and  retained  the  office  for  two  years  longer.  His 
recollections  of  his  Canadian  stay  may  be  seen  by  a  refer- 
ence in  a  letter  to  Haldimand  from  one  of  the  East  Indian 
ports  in  177"),  in  which  he  speaks  of  spending  his  life  tran- 
quilly now,  differently  from  what  he  did  in  Canada.' 

Colonel  Guy  Carleton  had  also  had  early  experience  in 
Canada,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  afforded  him  much 
idea  of  the  real  state  of  the  country.  He  and  Murray  were 
of  the  same  profession;  and  the  integrity  and  earnest  en- 
deavour after  good  government  which  characterized  the 
former  can  even  more  unhesitatingly  be  ascribed  to  the 
latter.  To  him  also  must  be  conceded  a  larger  share  of 
statesmanlike  qualities  than  is  exhibited  by  any  other  offi- 
cial in  the  early  history  of  the  country.  Carleton  was  in- 
deed, like  Murray,  first  a  military  man,  and  his  most  strik- 
ing services  to  Canada  were  perhaps  military  ones;  but  he 

1  Rep.  Can.  Arch.,  18S8,  p.  19. 

'See  conceruinR  his  reception,  Can.  Arch.,  B.  68,  p.  157.  He  was  recalled  on  the 
rpcommendation  of  the  Board  of  Trade  on  account,  as  expressly  stated,  of  the  com- 
plaints of  the  merchants  trading  to  and  in  the  colony.  The  severe  strictures  of  Hills- 
boroufih  ((juoteJ  bolow.  Soo  also  above,  p.  314)  may  perhaps  be  explained  by  tlio  fact 
that  HillsborouRh  had  b(>ou  president  of  the  Board  when  tlie  Proclamation  which  he 
accused  Murray  of  Krossly  misinterpreting  had  been  drawn. 

<Can.  Arch.,B.  6,  p.  278. 


370  nUM.KTIN   OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISPONHIN. 

was  also  a  man  of  considorable  civil  cxperionce,  of  wide 
statesmanlike  views,'  and  of  no  small  amount  of  discern- 
ment with  roj,'ar(l  to  Ijotli  men  and  events.  He  was  for 
twenty  years,  intermittently,  the  chief  ti^ruro  in  Canadian 
life;  and  his  work  here  is  consequently  the  main  feature 
of  what  biojjraphors  ufrree  in  considering  a  somewhat  dis- 
tinguished career. 

Personally  he  was  a  man  of  infinitely  more  digjiity  than 
Murray, —  one  who  often  left  with  his  contemporaries  the 
imi)ression  of  a  somewhat  reserved  and  frigid  nature. 
His  self  control  may  be  illustrated  by  the  testimony  of 
an  eye  witness  to  one  of  the  most  trying  events  of  his 
life  —  the  abandoning  of  Montreal  to  the  Americans  in 
1776.-'  His  attitude  toward  the  revolution  was  a  most  un- 
bending one,  and  is  clearly  shown  in  a  letter  to  Dart- 
mouth during  the  seige  of  Montreal,'  in  which  he  refers  to 
the  threatening  communication  of  Montgomery  in  regard 
to  alleged  ill-treatment  of  American  prisoners,  and  adds, 
"  I  shall  treat  all  their  threats  with  a  silent  contempt,  and 
in  this  persevere,  were  I  certain  of  falling  into  their  hands 
the  following  week,  not  thinking  myself  at  liberty  to  treat 
otherwise  those  who  are  traitors  to  the  King,  without  His 
Majesty's  express  commands."  Yet  after  the  remnant  of 
the  American  force  had  retreated  from  the  walls  of  Quebec 
in  the  spring  of  1770,  leaving  behind  them  many  sick  and 
wounded  (  "dispersed  in  the  adjacent  woods  and  parishes"), 
we  find  him  issuing  a  proclamation  to  the  local  officials 
to  make  diligent  search  for  such  persons  and  to  afford 
them  all  possible  relief,  reassuring  them  by  the  promise 
that  as  soon  as  their  health  should  be  restored  they  would 

1  For  some  acute  KPneral  remarks  oq  thti  tendencicisof  Americun  Koveriimeut,  see  letter 
to  Sliclbourne,  Jan.  2(1,  176M.     (Can.  Arch.,  Q,  S-1,  p.  370.) 

"  Lt.  Gt>v.  Hamilton  to  Dartmouth,  Aup.  2tt,  1776.  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  212.)  Has 
been  "  esceedinfrly  struck  by  the  unmoved  temper  and  firmness  of  the  general.  ThouKh 
deserted  by  the  most  ungrateful  race  under  the  sun,  though  a  general  without  troops, 
and  at  the  eve  of  quitting  Montreal  to  give  entrance  to  lawless  rebels  his  mind  ap- 
{K'ared  unshaken    .    .    .    though  undoubtedly  wrung  to  the  soul." 

'  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  267.    (Oct.  28, 1775.) 


COFFIN — TIIK  PROVINCE  OF  QCEIlEC,   1760-7(1.  371 

beset  at  liberty.'  In  October,  177G.  writing,'  to  Uurgoyne 
in  reference  to  a  recent  victory  over  the  rebels,  ho  says 
that  inasmuch  as  it  is  over  fellow  subjects  it  is  no  ground 
for  rejoicing.  The  attitude  of  Carleton  in  regard  to  Bur- 
goynes  expedition  throws  further  honorable  light  on  his 
character.  For  though  deeply  mortitied  by  the  slight  to 
himself  in  the  transfei*  of  the  command  on  this  occasion  to 
Burgoyno,  wo  have  the  hitter's  most  emphatic  testimony 
to  his  zealous  and  strenuous  elYorts  to  make  the  expedition 
a  success.-  The  traits  of  Carleton's  character  which  seem 
to  have  made  most  impression  upon  those  who  had  to  do 
with  him  in  Canada  were  his  justice  and  impartiality,  tes- 
timony to  these  recurring  from  all  quarters.  Of  a  more 
even  and  balanced  nature  than  Murray  he  made  neither  such 
bitter  enemies  nor  such  warm  friends. 

Carleton  had  the  great  advantage  over  Murray,  so  far  as 
his  relations  with  the  homo  government  were  concerned, 
of  coming  to  his  government  more  fully  and  directly  in- 
formed as  to  the  trend  of  Im])erial  views  in  regard  to 
Canada.  The  Board  of  Trade  when  advising  Murray's  re- 
call had  at  length  taken  the  state  of  the  province  into  con- 
sideration, and  had  drawn  up  a  paper  of  recommendations 
with  which  Carleton  was  of  course  conversant.  Though 
nominally  Murray's  subordinate  for  the  first  two  years, 
there  was  no  official  relation  between  the  two,  and  appar- 
ently a  strained  personal  one, —  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  fact  that  Carleton  really  displaced  Murray  and  was 
supposed  to  represent  an  opposite  policy.  The  former  has 
sometimes  the  air  of  censuring  the  conduct  of  his  prede- 
cessor, and  his  first  steps  on  arriving  in  the  province  were 
considered  by  some  to  have  been  dictated  by  hostility  to 
Murray's  friends  in  the  Council.  But  however  this  may 
have  been  we  find  that  Carleton  did  not  escape  the  most 

•  A  promise  tlint  was  fuiflUed,  over  1,200  bein^  sent  ln)me  on  parole.  See  Carleton  to 
Germaino,  Auk.  10, 1776.  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  i;t5.)  For  the  s-frougly  favorable  impree- 
Bion  made  on  these  troops  by  Carleton  see  JouriuOs  of  the  invaders. 

»  Burgoyne  t«  Gormaine,  May  14, 1777.    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  13,  p.  107.) 


872  BULLETTV  OF  TIIK  ITNIVRRSITV   OV  WtHCONBIV. 

disastrous  part  of  his  predecessor  s  policy, —  the  partiality 
for  and  dependence  ui)on  liio  noblesse.  The  men,  from 
birth,  character,  and  training;,  were  essentially  imbmd  with 
the  same  prejudices  and  ideas  of  government,  and  Carlo- 
ton  was  moreover  in  a  degree  i)ound  to  oven  greater  con- 
sideration of  the  leading  B''rench  families,  from  the  fa^t 
that  ho  was  likely  to  be  entrusted  with  the^  carrying  out  of 
the  policy  of  preserving  the  institutions  of  which  they 
were  supposed  to  be  the  nuiin  support.  This  supposition 
he  brought  with  him  from  England,  and  I  have  already 
frequently  referred  to  the  fundamental  error  (as  to  the  re- 
lations between  noblesse  and  people),  involved  in  it.  It 
was  an  error  to  which  can  be  traced  the  main  defects  and 
failures  of  his  policy  and  of  its  outcome,  the  Quebec  Act. 
I  have  above  credited  Carleton  with  considerable  pene- 
tration and  judicial  ability  in  regard  to  men  and  events; 
but  in  this  matter  his  prejudices  seem  to  have  lulled  his 
judgment  to  sleep,  and  he  remained  contented  with  an  es- 
timate of  the  people  derived  from  the  small  and  unprogres- 
Bive  body  which  was  nearest  him,  and  which  was  now 
every  day  becoming  more  and  more  detached  from  the 
real  life  of  the  country.  He  was,  moreover,  scarcely  more 
just  to  the  English  element  or  more  alive  to  its  growing 
influence  over  the  Canadians  than  was  Murray.  His 
personal  stiffness  and  aristocratic  bearing  doubtless  stood 
constantly  in  his  way ;  and  as  late  as  1788,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  second  term  of  office,  Mabane,  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  experienced  of  the  ex-councillors,  writes  con- 
cerning Carleton 's  ignorance  of  men  and  things  in  the 
province,  his  partiality  and  his  unpopularity.'  Hence  per- 
haps it  may  well  be  doubted  whether,  though  of  much 
broader  views  than  Murray  and  infinitely  superior  to  him 
as  an  administrator,  he  was  really  very  much  better  qual- 
ified for  this  particular  period  of  government.  Hia  efforts 
were  fatally  mar^-ed  by  his  misconceptions  of  the  situation. 

'  Can.  Aroli.,  B.  7".     Mabane,  it  i^liuuld  be  said,  had  had  porsonal  diSicultiea  with 
Carleton  in  tlio  early  days  of  the  governorship. 


COl'FIN — THE   I'ROVUVCE  OV  QUEBEC,    17G0-7U.  373 

Ilavinff,  liko  Murray,  from  the  first  taken  the  Canadian 
noblesse  under  his  protection,  one  of  Carleton's  first  acts 
was  to  follow  llio  example  of  the  F'rench  government  in 
providing  for  tliem  to  some  extent  from  the  public  purse. 
He  lost  no  time,  moreover,  in  urging  on  the  home  govern- 
ment the  advisability  as  a  matter  of  policy  of  utilizing  the 
services  of  the  class  in  all  departments  of  the  public  em- 
ploy. The  mistake  as  to  their  influence  over  the  people 
he  seems  to  have  laboured  under  during  the  whole  period, 
and  it  explains  sufficiently,  (without  charging  him  with 
undue  class  or  professional  jirejudice),  the  deference  he 
always  paid  to  their  views  and  wishes.  The  first  striking 
letter  of  Carleton  on  general  policy  that  we  meet  with,  is 
that  of  November  2'),  17G7,'  in  answer  apparently  to  infor- 
mation as  to  a  late  important  action  of  the  Privy  Council. 
In  this  he  starts  by  saying  that  he  takes  it  for  granted 
"that  the  natural  rights  of  men,^  the  British  interests  on 
this  contiiiSnt  and  the  securing  the  King's  dominion  over 
this  province  must  ever  be  the  principal  points  in  view  in 
forming  its  civil  constitution  and  body  of  laws;"  proceeds 
to  advise  the  attaching  of  the  seigneurs  to  British  interests, 
(as  above),  and  finally,  after  a  discussion  of  military  re- 
quirements, expresses  the  opinion  that  all  governmental 
steps  should  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  the  present 
predominance  of  the  French-speaking  population  will  not 
diminish,  but  increase  and  strengthen  daily;  so  that, 
"  barring  a  catastrophe  shocking  to  think  of,  this  country 
must  to  the  end  of  time  be  peopled  by  the  Canadian  race, " 
and  any  new  stock  transplanted  will  be  sure  to  be  "  totally 
liid  and  imperceptible  among  them. "  Specific  recommenda 
tions  as  to  laws  he  does  not  enter  into,  but  it  is  easy  to  see 
whither  his  premises  will  lead  him.  Hence  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  him  a  month  later  recommending  in  the 
most  definite  and  decided  manner  the  almost  entire  reten- 

1  Hep.  Can.  Arch.,  \Vff»,  p.  4J. 

'The  use  of  this  phrase  here  is  rather  suggestive. 

7 


374  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

tion  of  French  civil  law  and  custom.  In  this  very  '  j  ■ 
portant  letter  (to  Shelbourne,  December  24,  1767,)'  he  d- 
minds  the  minister  that  the  Canadians  "  are  not  a  migra- 
tion of  Britons,  who  brought  with  them  the  laws  of  England, 
but  a  populous  and  long-established  colony,"  with  its  own 
laws  and  customs,  forced  to  a  conditional  capitulation.  "All 
this  arrangement  in  one  hour  we  overturned  by  the  Ordinance 
of  the  17th  September,  1764,  and  laws  ill- adapted  to  the 
genius  of  the  Canadians,  to  the  situation  of  the  province,  and 
to  the  interests  of  Great  Britain,  unknown  and  unpublished, 
were  introduced  in  their  stead;  a  sort  of  severity  if  I  remem- 
ber right,  never  before  practiced  by  any  conqueror  even 
where  the  people  without  capitulation  submitted  to  his  will 
and  discretion. "  Then,  after  implying  that  the  above  Ordi- 
nance is  both  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  capitulation  and 
beyond  the  provincial  legislative  power,  and  declaring  that 
it  "  cannot  long  remain  in  force  without  a  general  confu- 
sion and  discontent,"  he  proceeds  to  advise  its  repeal  and 
the  gradual  reinstating  of  the  old  Canadian  laws  almost  in 
their  entirety.  In  accordance  with  this  advice  he  transmits 
a  draft  of  an  ordinance  for  doing  this  in  regard  to  landed 
property.  We  see,  therefore,  that  Carleton's  mind  was 
fully  made  up  on  this  subject  more  than  six  years  before 
the  Quebec  Act.  His  views  seem  if  anything  to  have  be- 
come only  more  firmly  fixed  during  the  following  years. 
He  frequently  re-urges  the  attaching  of  the  noblesse  by 
employment  or  by  other  attentions,  his  confidence  as  to 
their  influence  over  the  people  apparently  remaining  undis- 
turbed. But  the  fact  that  he  was  absent  from  the  province 
for  the  last  four  years  of  the  period  is  to  be  especially 
noted;  for  these  years  were  the  most  important  part  of  it, 
being  those  in  which  political  education  would,  (through 
the  unavoidable  influence  of  the  events  in  the  other  colon- 
ies), be  proceeding  at  the  most  rapid  rate. 
The  conceptions  and  misconceptions  of  Carleton  I  have 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  316. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7(>.  375 

considered  especially  noteworthy  on  account  of  the  de- 
pendence the  home  administrations  placed  on  him,  and  his 
great  influence  in  the  moulding  of  the  Quebec  Act.  We 
have  seen  that  he  had  the  advantage  of  Murray  in  coming 
to  the  government  en  rapport  with  the  home  administra- 
tion; and  so  far  as  appears  this  perfect  agreement  and 
confidence  was  maintained  down  till  the  last  year  of  his 
rule  (when  personal  difficulties  arose  between  himself  and 
the  Secretary  of  State,  Lord  Germaine).  The  following  of 
the  course  of  events  leaves  with  us  the  conviction  that  the 
colonial  office  depended  on  Carleton  for  practically  all  its 
instruction  on  Canadian  matters,  and  that  all  its  steps  were 
guided  by  his  recommendations.  There  have  been  more 
successful  officials  in  English  colonial  history,  but  never 
one  more  thoroughly  trusted.  His  military  services  in 
1775  were  confounded  with  his  civil  ones  apparently,  and 
he  retired  from  Canada  with  the  reputation  of  a  master  in 
all  that  concerned  it.  Accordingly  we  find  that  when  in 
1786  its  affairs  seemed  to  be  again  approaching  a  crisis 
which  could  not  be  neglected,  he  was  sent  out,  invested 
with  the  new  dignity  of  a  peerage,  to  steer  the  ship  of 
state  through  the  troubled  waters  of  another  change  of 
constitution. 

B.     The  Imperial  Office. 

With  regard  to  Imperial  policy  I  shall  first  notice  for 
a  moment  the  general  attitude  of  the  successive  home  ex- 
ecutives toward  the  political  parties  (or  more  accurately, 
the  different  races),  in  the  province.  This  is  an  enquiry  that 
will  be  resumed  later  in  the  attempt  to  determine  how  far 
the  Quebec  Act  was  in  accordance  with  previous  measures, 
and  how  far  dictated  by  the  supposed  emergencies  con- 
nected with  the  threatening  stand  of  the  other  colonies. 
Just  now  I  confine  myself  to  general  expressions  of  policy, 
contained  in  regular  and  confidential  communications  with 
the  provincial  administration;  communications  which  as  of 
a  strictly  private  nature  and  made  to  the  officials  in  the 


376  BULLETIN  OF   THE   CNTVERSITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

full  confidence  of  the  home  government,  I  can  find  no 
reason  for  taking  at  anything  but  their  fac-e  value.  At  the 
outset  it  may  be  said  that  in  small  matters  as  in  great  the 
correspondence  is  of  a  nature  to  imjiress  us  strongly  with 
the  justice  and  humanity,  if  not  with  the  far-sightedness,  of 
the  views  entertained  and  advocated  by  one  andrfill  of  the 
various  secretaries  in  charge  of  the  colonial  department. 
The  utmost  attention  is  given  to  every  symptom  of  discon- 
tent on  the  part  of  the  people  and  the  attachment  of  them 
by  conciliatory  and  just  treatment  is  constantly  urged. 
Notwithstanding  the  energy  of  the  English-speaking  ele- 
ment in  the  colony  in  making  themselves  heard  both  there 
and  at  home,  the  authorities  seem  never  to  have  lost  sight 
of  the  fact  that  Canada  was  French  and  likely  to  remain 
French.'  Early  in  the  period  the  minister  writes  that  duti- 
ful behaviour  will  secure  the  French  Canadians  all  the  ben- 
efits of  British  government;  and  that  these  were  not  empty 
words  is  shewn  by  the  instructions  sent  out  in  regard  to 
the  judiciary  ordinance  of  September  17,  1764,  as  we  gather 
them  from  the  wording  of  the  amending  ordinance  of  July 
1st,  1766.-  The  preamble  of  the  latter  states  that  his  Maj- 
esty has  signified  by  an  additional  instruction  "that  the  wel- 
fare and  happiness  of  his  loving  subjects  in  this  province 
do  require  that  the  said  ordinance  should  be  altered  and 
amended  in  several  provisions  of  it  which  tend  to  restrain 
his  Canadian  subjects  in  the  privileges  they  are  entitled  to 
enjoy  in  common  with  his  natural-born  subjects;"  and  it  is 
accordingly  enacted  that  Canadians  shall  be  admitted  equally 
with  British-born  on  all  juries  and  to  the  legal  xjrofession. 
In  ihe  following  year  the  state  of  the  provincial  judiciary 
was  taken  up  more  seriously,  and  we  get  very  important 
indications  of  the  way  in  which  the  matter  was  viewed  at 

•  See  Cnrleton  to  Shelbonie,  Nov.  25,  1767,  lii'p.  Can.  Arch.,  IH-lS,  p.  42;  al.so  Cramahd 
to  Dartmouth,  December,  177H.  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  10,  p.  22.)  See  also  debate  in  Commons 
on  Quebec  Act,  177-J,  for  position  taken  by  both  government  and  opposition  that  ths 
French  Canadians  must  be  the  first  consideration. 

"  For  Ordinances  see  Can.  .\rcli.,  Q.  5. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-7G.  377 

home,  from  the  minutes  of  the  Privy  Council  meeting?  of 
Aaprust  28,  1767.'  It  was  resolved  that  the  government  of- 
ficials in  the  province  should  be  instructed  to  report  on  the 
existing  defects,  and  "whether  the  Canadians  in  particular 
are,  or  think  themselves  aggrieved  according  to  the  present 
administration  of  justice,  wherein  and  in  what  respect,  to- 
gether with  their  opinions  of  any  alterations,  additions,  or 
amendments  that  they  can  propose  for  the  general  benefit 
of  the  said  province. "  The  proceedings  here  inaugurated 
were  interrupted  and  delayed  by  ministerial  changes,  but 
the  views  of  policy  on  which  they  were  founded  evidently 
remained  the  same.  In  the  spring  of  the  following  year, 
Shelbourne  was  replaced  in  the  secretaryship  by  Hills- 
borough, who  retained  it  up  till  the  eve  of  the  Quebec  Act. 
His  first  letter  to  Quebec,  dated  March  6th,  1768,  conveys 
to  Carle  ton,  (who  had  been  strongly  advocating  the  reten- 
tion of  the  French  laws  and  customs),  His  Majesty's  ap- 
proval "of  the  humanity  and  tenderness  you  have  shewn 
with  regard  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  and  situation  of 
His  Majesty's  new  subjects;"  and  recommends  him  to  take 
measures  to  reconcile  the  new  subjects  to  unavoidable  de- 
lays in  regard  to  a  general  settlement.'*  In  the  following 
July  he  writes  in  the  same  strain,  fully  approving  of  all 
the  governor's  recommendations  (in  regard  to  re-establish- 
ment of  French  law),  and  regretting  the  unavoidable  delay 
in  the  giving  them  force. '  January  4,  1769,*  he  agrees  with 
Carleton's  recommendation  of  the  employing  in  the  public 
service  of  the  French  Canadians,  but  expresses  the  fear 
that  popular  prejudices  at  home  might  make  it  difficult  to 
follow  as  regarded  the  military  profession;  in  the  follow- 
ing July''  he  says  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  justice 
and  propriety  of  admitting  Canadians  to  the  Council.  Jan- 

1  See  below,  chapter  V  for  full  report.    (Cat)    Arcli.,  Q.  4,  p.  ;<27.) 
'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  ;{44. 
•Ibid.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  OOa. 
Ubid.,  Q.  6,  p.  3. 
'Ibid.,  p.  67. 


878  BULLETIN  OF  TIIK  nNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

uary  11,  1772,' he  transmits  to  Cramaht'  the  new  instruc- 
tions in  regard  to  the  granting  of  lands,  which  he  hopes 
will  "convince  His  Majesty's  new  subjects  of  the  King's 
gracious  intention  to  adopt  and  preserve,  in  every  case 
where  it  can  be  legally  done,  the  customs  and  usages  that 
subsisted  in  the  colony  before  the  reduction  of  it,  and  which 
His  Majesty  observes  they  are  very  desirous  to  retain. "  This 
is  more  than  two  years  before  the  Quebec  Act. 

The  attitude  of  the  Imperial  administrations  toward  the 
new  English-speaking  element  may  be  conjectured  from 
the  opinion  generally  entertained  at  home,  that  the  main 
part  of  this  was  of  American  origin,  and  was  inspired  by 
the  same  ideas  and  aims  as  the  turbulent  populace  in  the 
other  provinces.  This  idea,  as  is  shown  above,  was  prob- 
ably mainly  due  to  the  intemperate  attitude  of  the  early 
spokesmen  of  the  party,  and  was  evidently  fostered  both 
by  Murray  and  Carleton.  The  attitude  of  the  Grand  Jury 
in  1764-  was  of  course  severely  condemned  at  home,  the 
secretary  transmitting  His  Majesty's  highest  disapproba- 
tion of  their  "  assuming  to  themselves  authority  similar  to 
that  of  a  House  of  Representatives  against  the  orders  and 
regulations  of  His  Majesty's  government  established 
there.""  There  are  indications  that  possibly  show  that  at 
one  time  there  was  no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  home  gov- 
ernment for  ary  considerable  increase  in  the  number  and 
influence  of  the  old  subjects  in  the  province,  and  we  at 
least  have  expressions  which  prove  that  none  such  was  ex- 
pected. The  change  in  the  land  regulations  was  made  to 
accommodate  the  French,  and  apparently  without  any  idea 
that  it  would  be  welcome  to  the  English  settler.  But  yet 
Hillsborough  writes,  April  18,  1772,  in  tones  of  satisfaction 
at  the  apparent  betaking  of  the  English  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  land.* 

iCan.  Arch.,Q.  8,  p.  97. 
'  See  above,  pp.  3U-13. 
'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  4&4. 
<Ibid.,Q.  8,  p.  124. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-76.  379 

In  regard  to  the  movement  in  1773  for  an  assembly  the 
provincial  ijovernment  tried  to  adopt  an  amicable  and 
neutral  course  in  order  to  have  the  representations  of  the 
old  subjects  forwarded  in  a  regular  manner  (i.  e.,  through 
the  authorities;  which,  however,  seems  not  to  have  been 
done).  Dartmouth  writes,  April  Gth,  1774,  approving  of  this 
course  and  stating  his  conviction  "that  the  projiosition  has 
been  stirred  up  to  answer  factious  views;  and  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  committee  seem  to  have  had  no  other  object 
than  to  embarrass  the  measures  now  under  consideration." ' 
Dec(!mber  loth,  1774,  he  expresses  the  hope  that  the  full 
operation  of  the  Quel:)ec  Act,  especially  in  regard  to  "  the 
plan  of  judicature "  intended,  may  satisfy  all  classes  of 
subjects,  and  recommends  to  the  governor  to  point  out  to 
the  British  "  the  attention  that  has  been  shown  to  their  in- 
terests not  only  in  the  adopting  of  the  English  laws  as  far 
as  was  consistent  with  what  was  due  to  the  just  claims  and 
moderate  wishes  of  the  Canadians,  but  in  the  opening  to 
the  British  merchant  by  the  extension  of  the  province  so 
many  new  channels  of  important  commerce,"^ 

On  the  whole  we  may  sum  up  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment, Provincial  and  Imperial,  towards  the  old  subjects  in 
in  the  words  of  Haldimand,  who  writes  in  October,  1779, 
that  he  and  the  Council  agree  in  considering  the  Canadians 
the  people  of  the  country,  to  the  60,000  of  whom  regard 
was  to  be  paid,  rather  than  to  the  2,000  others. '  And  the 
expressions  of  this  disregard  of  the  English-speaking  ele- 
.ment  were  the  less  unrestrained  through  the  prejudices  es- 
tablished mainly  by  the  injurious  misrepresentations  of  the 
Provincial  officials. 

In  noting  the  Imperial  policy  in  some  of  its  special  ap- 
plications to  Provincial  affairs  I  shall  leave  out  of  sight  for 
the  moment  those  more  important  matters  which  when 
settled  tinally  by  the  Quebec  Act,  became  the  centre  of  the 

iCun.  Arch.,  Q.  W,  p- 42. 
»Ibid.,i>.  ra. 
Mbid.,  B.  54,p.  354. 


380  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OV  WISCONSIN. 

contention  that  rajjed  round  that  measure.  These  had  refer- 
ence to  the  boundaries  of  the  province,  to  the  position  and 
possessions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  within  it,  to  the 
Provincial  legislature,  and  to  the  civil  law;  and  it  appears 
better  to  disregard  the  chronological  order  to  some  degree 
in  their  case,  so  that  the  consideration  of  them  may  be 
brought  as  a  part  of  the  Quebec  Act  generally.  Here, 
therefore,  I  have  reference  to  such  other  parts  of  the  gen- 
eral course  of  the  home  administration  as  throw  light  upon 
general  policy.  And  the  first  and  chief  impression  that  is 
made  upon  us  by  the  examination  of  these,  in  connection 
with  the  other  less  important  parts  of  the  progress  of 
events,  is  that  ignorance,  neglect,  and  inconsistency  were 
the  prevailing  conditions  in  the  colonial  office  throughout 
as  regarded  the  province  of  Quebec.  This  I  have  already 
reverted  to;  in  connection  with  the  Quebec  Act  it  will  be 
necessary  to  make  some  short  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  it. 
The  general  character  of  what  may  be  called  constitu- 
tional documents  calls  first  for  notice.  The  main  early  ones 
have  been  already  noticed  in  other  connections;'  they  cer- 
tainly give  us  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  long  line  of 
colonial  precedent  established  in  the  English  administrative 
mind  was  departed  from  in  the  case  of  Canada,  except  in 
so  far  as  would  seem  unavoidable  in  providing  for  se- 
curity and  order  amongst  a  people  totally  ignorant  of  Brit- 
ish methods  of  government  and  incapacitated  by  British 
law  from  participation  in  them.  We  have  seen  indeed  that 
even  the  difficulties  which  thus  lay  on  the  surface  and 
which  might  be  expected  to  attract  the  notice  of  the 
most  incapable  and  harrassed  of  ministers,  do  seem  in  these 
first  measures  to  have  been  entirely  disregarded;  for  the 
Proclamation  of  1763,  which  unmistakably  contemplates 
the  early  establishment  of  an  assembly,  seems  to  have  been 
drawn  up  in  utter  ignorance  or  disregard  of  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  the  countries  to  which  it  gave  a  constitution. 
Not  only  does  it  show  no  special  mark  of  regard  for  the 

1  See  especially  chapter  III,  gectioo  A. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QDEBEO,    17C0-70.  381 

original  inhabitants  of  these  new  acquisitions,  but  it  seems 
oblivious  to  their  existence.  So  far  as  it  goes,  these  acquisi- 
tions are  considered,  not  as  old  and  settled  colonies  of  an- 
other race,  but  as  totally  unoccupied  regions  to  which  it 
was  the  duty  of  His  Majesty's  government  to  draw  the 
speedy  attention  of  His  Majesty's  loyal  emigrants.  The 
preamble  to  the  proclamation  states  the  ground  of  the 
measures  therein  taken  to  be  the  desire  "that  all  our  lov- 
ing subjects  as  well  of  our  Kingdoms  aa  of  our  colonies  in 
America,  may  avail  themselves  with  all  convenient  speed 
of  the  great  benefits  and  advantages  which  must  accrue 
therefrom  to  their  commerce,  manufactures,  and  naviga- 
tion," and  the  conviction  that  these  measures  "will  greatly 
contribute  to  the  sjieedy  settling  our  said  new  govern- 
ments;" it  being  further  promised  that,  (italics  are  mine), 
"all  persons  Inhabiting  in  or  resorting  to  our  said  colonies 
may  confide  in  our  Royal  protection  for  the  enjoyment  of 
the  benefit  of  the  laws  of  our  realm  of  England,  ' —  a  prom- 
ise made  apparently  without  a  suspicion  that  there  could 
be  any  parties  concerned  who  were  not  pining  after  the 
"enjoyment"  in  question.  In  view  of  this  document  we 
have  little  right  to  look  for  any  great  care  or  discrimina- 
tion in  the  applying  to  the  new  government  of  the  min 
governmental  instruments.  Nor  on  the  other  hand  do  we 
discover  any  marks  of  influence  exerted  upon  the  Imperial 
administration  by  the  contemporary  difficulties  which  were 
attending  government  under  similar  instruments  in  the  old 
colonies.  The  conviction  is  forced  upon  us  as  we  study 
the  history  of  the  first  few  years  (down  say  till  1708),  that 
th3  various  executives  must  have  been  too  busy  with  other 
matters  to  have  had  time  to  do  more  with  regard  to  Canada 
than  order  the  making  out  for  it  of  new  copies  of  the  es- 
tablished forms. 

The  commission  to  Gov.  Murray  under  which  civil  gov- 
ernment was  established  in  Canada,  August  10th,  1764,  is 
dated  November  21,   1763,   or  about  six  weeks  after  the 


382  HULI.KTIN  OK  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Proclamation  above  referred  to.  What  relation  it  boars  to 
the  usual  form  of  the  document  will  be.st  l)e  discovered  by  di- 
rect comparison;  and  I  have  .selected  for  this  purpose  the 
almost  contemporary  commissions  to  Governor  Cornwallis 
of  Nova  Scotia  in  1749,  and  to  Sir  Danvers  Oshorn  of  New 
York  in  1755.'  Nova  Scotia  had,  it  will  be  remembered, 
been  ceded  to  Britain  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  and 
the  commission  in  question  was  issued  in  connection  with 
an  attempt  to  hasten  British  settlement  in  the  country  and 
to  bring  the  civil  government  more  fully  into  accord  with 
those  of  the  older  colonies.  I  have  already  quoted  from  it 
above  in  the  argument  as  to  the  unconstitutionality  of  gov- 
ernment in  Quebec  without  an  assembly,-  showing  that  the 
commissions  in  that  regard  (and  in  regard  to  the  nature  of 
the  laws  to  be  passed),  were  identical.  The  most  of  the 
remainder  is  also  practically  identical,  the  only  points 
of  difference  being  as  to  land  grants  and  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Council.  In  regard  to  lands  the  conditions 
are  left  to  the  discretion  of  Governor  Cornwallis,  acting 
with  advice  of  the  Council,  while  Governor  Murray  is  en- 
joined to  follow  in  such  grants  the  annexed  royal  instruc- 
tions. In  regard  to  the  control  of  the  governor  over  the 
Council  and  general  administration,  Cornwallis  is  given 
full  power  of  appointment  and  suspension,  while  nothing 
is  said  whatever  on  the  subject  in  Murray's  commission, 
the  matter  being  left  to  his  instructions,  by  which  he  is 
given  practically  the  same  power.  On  the  whole  we  may 
conclude,  therefore,  that  the  divergences  between  these 
two  commissions  are  not  sufficient  to  weaken  what  I  have 
said  above;  the  difference  in  regard  to  land  grants  being 
easily  explained  by  the  necessity,  (as  dwelt  upon  in  the 
Proclamation  of  1763),  of  special  care  in  regard  to  Quebec 
in  this  direction,  owing  to  the  danger  of  alienating  the 

I  For  first  s(>«  Houston,  Can.  Const.  Doc,  p.  9;  for  second,  Masires,  Connnissions,    All 
tliRH«  commissions  are  sigued  in  the  same  way  and  by  the  same  person. 
"See  pp.  Xa-JO. 


COFFIN — THE    PROVINCE  OF  QUEHKC,    17»i0    7'!.  383 

Indians  and  of  injuring  the  fur  trade.  No  hint  is  given  of 
any  alertness  on  the  part  of  th(!  English  government  in  re- 
gard to  the  internal  conditions  of  Canada,  or  of  any  idea  of 
treating  it  differently  from  the  other  English  colonies. 
But  as  it  may  perhaps  be  contended  that  Nova  Scotia  and 
Quebec  were  in  somewhat  the  same  condition  owing  to  the 
presence  in  both  of  a  large  body  of  long-s>ettled  French,  I 
will  continue  the  comparison  further,  and  will  take  up  what 
seems  to  be  a  typical  commission  in  the  older  colonies, 
viz.,  that  granted  to  Sir  Dan  vers  Osborn,  1754,  as  gov- 
ernor of  New  York.  We  find  that  this  commission  is  prac- 
tically identical  with  that  of  Governor  Cornwallis  six  years 
earlier;  hence  differing  from  Murray's  only  in  the  inser- 
tion of  the  provisions  in  regard  to  the  Council  (relegated  to 
Murray's  instructions),  and  in  regard  to  land  grants,  where 
the  same  motive  for  divergence  may  be  sujjposed  to  exist 
as  in  the  other  case. 

To  sum  up,  the  commission  to  Murray  in  1765  recog- 
nizes the  peculiar  position  of  Canada  to  the  extent  indi- 
cated by  the  following  divergences  from  previous  forms : 

a.  In  rcffard  to  the  const niction  of  the  Assembly.  This  in  the 
earlier  commissions  is  expressly  directed  to  conform  to  the 
usages  already  prevalent  in  the  colonies,  but  in  Murray's 
is  left  to  h  ,  discretion  or  to  future  instructions. 

b.  In  regard  to  the  Governor's  control  over  the  Council.  This 
is  provided  for  in  the  earlier  cases  by  the  commission, 
while  in  the  case  of  Canada  it  is  relegated  to  the  instruc- 
tions. The  significance,  (if  there  be  any),  would  seem  to 
be  that  Canada  was  intended  to  remain  for  the  time  more 
directly  under  the  control  and  development  of  the  English 
executive,  a  new  instruction  being  a  more  easily  wielded 
instrument  than  a  new  commission. 

c.  In  regard  to  Land  Grants.  Here  the  divergence  was 
manifestly  suggested  by  features  which  were  supposed  not 
to  exist  to  any  extent  worth  considering  in  the  case  of  the 
other  provinces.     In  the  case  of  Quebec  the  arrangement 


3R4  m'lJ.F.TIN  OK  TIIK   ITNIVKUHITY  OK   WlrtCONHlN. 

was  mudo  entirely  provisional,  for  an  elaborate  plan  in  re- 
gard to  Indian  government  and  land  grants  which  nn<;ht 
affect  the  Indians,  was  intended  at  the  time,  and  was  act- 
ually sent  out  with  the  instructions  under  the  Quebec  Act. 

These  div<'rgences  are  by  no  means  unimportant,  but  it 
will  be  readily  conceded  that,  for  the  most  part  merely 
negative,  they  would  seem  entirely  inadequate,  and  by  no 
means  in  proportion  to  the  changed  conditions.  They  are 
an  indication  not  of  settled  policy,  but  of  deferred  action. 
Hence  I  cannot  agree  with  Maseres,  who  points  to  the 
similarity  of  the  commissions  to  Sir  Danvers  Osborn  and 
to  Murray  as  in  itst'lf  i)roving  that  it  had  been  from  the 
first  His  Majesty's  intention  to  introduce  Engli.sh  laws  and 
methods  of  government  into  Quebec,  and  thus  to  assimili- 
tate  it  to  the  other  colonies  in  North  America.  The  only 
conclusion  we  have  a  right  to  draw  in  connection  with 
other  incomplete  and  contradictory  testimony,  is  that  the 
attitude  of  the  home  government  toward  Canada  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  civil  rule  was  a  wholly  uninformed  and  un- 
decided one.  and  that  the  measures  taken  then  were  wholly 
provisional. 

No  noteworthy  changes  are  found  in  either  of  Carleton's 
commissions  (17()()and  17Gh);  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  his 
instructions.  By  these  the  relation  between  the  governor 
and  the  Council  continued  to  be  (theoretically)  regulated; 
and  we  find  that,  instead  of  being  left  to  nominate  his  own 
Council  subject  to  Imperial  ratification,  as  had  been  the 
case  with  Murray  and  Cornwallis,  the  names  of  the  council- 
lors are  inserted  in  the  new  instructions  of  176H.  More- 
over, the  home  administration  now  expressly  reserves  to 
itself  the  making  of  additions,  the  governor  being  given 
power  only  of  temporary  appointment  in  emergency.  In 
regard  to  general  civil  service  appointments  Carleton's 
power  seems  further  restricted ; '  while  as  to  suspension  or 

1  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  there  i"  to  be  found  in  tbe»e  iuxtructions  and  commissions 
a  steady  decrease  of  the  apiwiutioK  power  of  the  colonial  govomor.    While  Gov.  Corn- 


COt'KIN — TIIK    I'ROVINrE     iK  (JIKIIKP.    17tl(»    "tl.  385 

removal,  though  the  matter  is  vaguely  worded,  he  Is  in  all 
cases  obliged  to  immediately  submit  the  matter  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  home  Administration.  These  changes  are  to 
bo  considered  in  connection  with  the  restoration  to  Carloton, 
(practically  in  17t)(),  and  formally  in  1771),  of  that  supreme 
military  authority  which  had  been  exercised  by  the  gov- 
ernor during  the  military  period,  and  which  I  have  re- 
ferred to  above  as  a  very  traterial  part  of  the  approxima- 
tion of  the  i)osition  of  the  English  executive  to  that  of  the 
French.  The  restriction  of  the  governor's  civil  power  may 
perhaps  be  considered  in  the  same  light.  This  process  of 
check  upon  the  governor  will  be  seen  more  plainly  in  the 
Quebec  Act  and  its  development;  it  is  suttioient  now  to 
have  drawn  attention  to  what,  if  we  are  to  credit  the  Im- 
perial course  in  these  early  years  with  any  definite  inten- 
tions, may  reasonably  be  considered  an  entering  upon  the 
path  of  later  development.     The  changes  in  question  can 

walliii  iu  1749  i.i  Ki^uu  full  power  (if  uppiiiiitnieul  iKit  uuly  in  ri'ttanl  to  councillors,  but 
also  for  "all  such  otlit>r  otliccrs  and  ininl.storri  as  you  sliall  jniUi>  pr(>|H<r  ami  nocessary," 
tho  iM>wor.H  Kivtin  to  Oshorn  in  New  York  (IT.'u)  and  Murray  in  Qunbt»c  ilTW),  tliouuh 
apparently  as  full  witli  ri>«ard  to  tlin  Council  anil  to  occliv-ia^tical  otlicors,  urn  loss  aa 
to  tlio  inforior  olllcials.  And  a^  bi'twixm  tlioni,  wn  may  ixrliaps  soo  a  first  stUKo  of  re- 
striction in  the  fact  that  the  whole  matter  of  the  Council  was  roleRated  to  Murray's  in- 
utructions,  and  that  in  these  two  or  three  otllcers  are  named  as  ex-iifflcio  members  of  it. 
The  next  ita;?!' is  as  notetl  above,  tlie  case  of  Carloton  U'tW)  when,  Iwside  tlie  «reat  rn- 
ftriction  concerninK  thu  Council,  it  is  evident  that  the  main  [Mists  in  the  civil  service 
have  become  patent  oHlces  in  roRard  to  which  the  governor  has  at  most  only  tAmpoi  .try 
and  (trovisional  powers.  Of  much  interest  in  this  connection  are  some  remarks  by  Gov. 
Pownall  in  tile  debate  on  the  bill  for  rcffulatinif  the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
1774.  (Pari.  Hist.,  XVII,  llH'i-B.)  lie  states  that  even  in  Massacliusetts  Bay,  whereby 
the  cliartor  "  the  Rovornor  is,  oblised  to  take  with  him  not  simiily  the  advice,  but  the 
consent  of  the  Council  in  the  nomination  of  judROs  and  other  civil  ollicors,"  the  ulti- 
inat<^  source  of  authority  for  all  officers  is  the  (fovernor's  commission;  widle  "in  tlio.sn 
government.s  which  are  establislied  by  the  Kiuk's  paUmt  commissions  the  wliole  act  of 
appointment  is  in  the  Rovernor.  .  .  .  He  18  the  .sole  efiicient ;  ho  may  advise  with  the 
Council,  but  he  is  not  bound  to  take  their  con.sont;  .  .  .  ho  is  not  incorapuMnt- tothe 
act  without  their  consent.  His  commission  Rive.")  him  full  power  to  act,  .  .  .  ;  if  he 
acts  without  the  advice  of  his  Council,  he  does  indeed  breuk  throuRli  his  inst.-uctioua 
and  may  incur  His  Majesty's  displeasure;  but  yot  the  appointment  is  good  to  all  in- 
tents and  puriKJses.  The  first  is  the  act  of  leRal  power  derived  from  the  commission ; 
the  second  is  a  matter  prudential  with  which  the  mode  of  the  act  is  properly  and 
wisely  accompanied."  I  am  not  concerned  now  with  tlw  preci.se  constitutional  value  of 
the.sp  statements;  for  my  pre.sent  inquiry  is  into  Imperial  po/icj/  — manifestly  to  be 
gathered  as  well  from  an  instruction  as  from  a  commission. 


886  BtTLLETIN  Or  THI  UNIVERSITY  OV   WISCONBIN. 

hardly  bo  exi)lairnHl  indoed  in  .any  other  way.  Nor  does  the 
exphvnation  chish  witli  my  general  conclusion  as  to  Imper- 
ial neglect  and  incorsistency ;  such  instances  of  intermit- 
tent activity,  uiiassociatcd  with  any  harmonizing  of  tlio 
various  conllicting  elements,  tend  as  yet  only  to  make  con- 
fusion more  confounded. 

We  are  not  aidud  very  much  out  of  the  ma/.o  by  an  ex- 
amination of  the  few  instances  of  special  interposition  on 
the  part  of  the  Imperial  government  in  the  conduct  of  af- 
fairs in  the  Province.  These  intoi-ferences,  generally  in 
the  nature  of  disapproval  or  prohibition,  are  such  as  either 
mark  the  appearance  in  the  colonial  office  of  new  brooms, 
(and  the  broom    was  very   frequently    changed),'  or  are 

'  It  weiiiH  (leniriihhi  t<i  iiitro<liict«  hi'r<<  a  Htittciiicrit  (iipcpn^'arily  iiiooniiilfff)  us  t<i  tlio 
ofllriiil  rcliituiiiH  <if  tlic  Udiih'  iiihI  Pniviiipiiil  aiithorilic-.  Tli<-.-(>  we  tliiil  to  U'l-oiiicwlmt 
c<irii|>lic»t<'(l,  tlii>  riiliinial  ».'iivcrn<>r  U-iiiu  at  all  tiiiu's  oMiKcd  to  ki'i-p  up  two  ami  fro> 
ciuciitly  tlirco  dilTiTcnt  liiicx  of  roiiiiniiriicatiiui,—  with  tlio  Sccrptary  of  Stuto,  tlii'  Hoard 
€)fTradi',  and  tilt' Tri>aHiiry.  The  )li>t  wnn  tho  moh*  rcuidar  ami  iinpcrutivc  cliaiiiicl, 
tlioiiKli  partly  so  it  would  ap|M<ar,  only  because  a  hIiirIc  atid  active  otllcial,  not  a  Hoard, 
had  tolM'  dealt  with  ;  and  on  this  corresiKindenci-,  which  it  is  safe  to  assume  omits  notli- 
inK  "f  iniiK>rtance,  this  study  is  mainly  hascrl.  Readers  of  Hnncroft,  however,  know  that 
tho  Board  of  Trade  at  this  period  was  no  elTeto  institution,  but  that  it  had  for  some  timo 
been  exerting  itself  in  colonial  atTairs  with  unusual  activity,  and  had  drawn  within  itx 
reach  all  tiepartments  of  colonial  business.  {See  Fitzinaurice,  Shrlhoiirne,  I,  "241)-;).)  It 
was  apparently  in  full  viKor  at  the  opening  of  »>ur  (M-riod,  isee  its  share  in  regard  to  tho 
Proclamation  of  n6;i),  as  Murray  shortly  discovered;  for  ho  writes  privately  to  Hali- 
fax, Oct.  29, 1764,  with  reference  to  a  severe  check  ho  bad  received  from  the  Board  for  not 
commnnicatiiiK  to  it  what  he  had  written  to  the  secretary.  Murray's  instructiotis  of 
176H  had  rather  obscurely  direcU'd  him  "  ntwin  all  occasions  to  send  to  tho  Board  only, 
a  iiarticular  account  of  all  your  proceodiuKs;"  thouKh  in  any  niatter  riMjuiriuK  tho 
King's  immediate  direction,  ho  was  to  corresiK)nd  with  the  Secretary  of  State  only. 
But  iLh  viKor  of  the  former  seems  to  have  suddenly  and  mysteriously  declined,  for  Bob. 
3, 1706,  (Can.  .\rch.,  Q.  3,  p.  VJ2),  Murray  (who  had  since  boon  careful  to  keep  it  fully  sui)- 
pli(>d  with  information),  ccmiplaius  of  "tho  total  silence  to  every  remonstrance,  roasoniuff 
and  report,  which  hitherto  I  have  had  the  honour  to  make  to  your  Board,  (from  which 
I  liave  had  no  letter  that  was  not  circular  since  the  establishment  of  civil  Rovernmeut 
here)."  Shortly  after  a  still  more  striking,'  proof  of  the  .seeming  decline  of  tho  Hoard 
of  Trade  is  driven  by  a  letter  to  it  from  Sholbourne,  Any.  :it),  17(ifi,  eiiclosin>f  "  an  Ordor- 
iu-Council  of  tho  8th  inst.  revokinu  an  order  of  llth  March,  1752,  ■  ^cernintj  the  cor- 
respondence to  be  carried  cm  between  tho  Commissioners  forTrade  ano  '  'utatious  and 
the  Kovernors  of  His  Majesty's  colonies,  who  are  to  correspcmd  with  t  Secretary  of 
State,  sending  duplicates  to  their  Lordships,  For  the  future  also  aU  meaiuros  relative 
to  commerce  anci  the  eolonief.  shall  oriRiuate  and  be  taken  up  in  tlie  minis  erial  execu. 
tive  offices  of  govemraent,  their  Lordships  acting  as  a  Board  of  Advice  uiwjn  .'  uch  pointa 
only  as  sball  be  referred  from  His  Majesty  by  Order-in-Council,  or  from  the  Lords  of  the 
Council,  or  a  Committee  of  the  Council,  or  from  His  Majesty  by  one  of  the  principal 


rOFriN — TUB  I'BKVINCE  OP  QUEBEC,    17H0-70.  387 

drawn  forth  by  complaints  which  had  tho  fjood  fortune  to 
be  backed  l)y  special  interest.  I  include  hero  all  actions 
with  reference  to  provincial  legislation;  for  though  these 
would  seem  to  form  a  part  of  the  regular  and  necessary 
supervision,  their  rare  occurrence  thi-oughout  the  period 
and  the  utter  neglect  of  Ordinances  which  were  direct 
oversteppings  of  the  (supposed)  Provincial  legislative 
power  preclude  the  idea  of  system  or  regularity. 

We  have  seen  above  that  the  number  of  Provincial  Ordi- 
nances was  over  40;  of  the.se  only  six  are  noticed  as  re- 
pealed, four  by  an  Order-in-Council  of  November  22,  1705, 
and  two  by  a  similar  order  of  June  2(5,  17()7.  No  direct 
statement  of  the  grounds  of  repeal  are  to  be  found  in  any 
case,  but  in  some  we  can  discover  them  by  an  examination 
of  the  measures.  We  find  one  in  regard  to  the  retail  liquor 
trade  vetoed  evidently  on  account  of  a  very  objectionable 
clause,  which  however,  occurs  also  in  another  unrepealed 

SecretariPH  of  8taf<« ;  and  tho  p.Mtinintu»<  for  colonial  nervice,  and  tlip  .lirpction  and  appli- 
ration  of  monpy  Kranted  tliitrpU|M>n  (a  hiiHiiipsK  of  late  joarH  trnnsactod  by  your  Lord- 
HhipH),  iij  to  bp  rPHunidd  into  itH  proppr  cliaunpl."  (Ciih-nilnr  Hume  Office  Ftiprr.t, 
1766-9,  No.  256.)  This  cortaiuly  Koonix  to  bt<tokpn  a  corapluto  PclipHo;  an  uxplanatlon  is 
fnmislipd  in  a  Ipttpr  from  tho  Karl  of  HillHhorouKh  to  Mr.  Opo.  Grpnvillp,  Au«.  (i,  1766, 
((iri'nvillr  Corrrr,i)onflfnrr,lll,  294.)  IlillxborouKh  had  bppn  prenidpnt  of  tho  Board 
under  the  OrpnvUlp  ministry,  from  Sept.  10,  ITiW,  till  the  accexMion  of  KockinRham, 
July,  176.5;  liP  now  informn  (jrpnvillp  that  had  he  not  heon  dismi.i.«cd  in  176.5  he  "conld 
not  have  continnpd  at  the  Hoard  of  Trade  niK)n  tliP  footiiiK  I  held  it ;"  tliat  he  is  now  in- 
vited by  Pitt  to  return  to  it,  and  has  deliberatod,  "  not  whether  I  siiould  come  to  tho 
Board  as  it  was  constituted  while  you  was  minister,  for  I  know  I  could  not  carry  on  tlio 
buBinesB  in  that  manner;  nor  whether  I  shouhl  propose,  what  is  certainly  most  desir- 
able for  the  r"'hlic,  tliat  it  should  be  made  an  independent  Department  upon  an  ex- 
tended plan,  for  I  know  the  dis|H)sition  of  some  too  well  to  supiM)se  that  would  be  com- 
I>lied  with,  by  parting  with  any  iK)wer  or  patronage  ;  hut  whether  I  could  not  contract 
the  place  so  as  that  1  mi«ht  do  the  business  in  an  easy  manner  to  myself,  and  free  from 
that  very  unpleasant  and  in  some  measure  unbecomiuR  attendance  u|)oii  others  which 
is  the  conse(iuence  of  unexplained  connections  of  departments  in  business,  and  always 
very  disagreeable  to  that  which  is  considered  the  inferior  situation."  Has  finally  de- 
cided to  accept,  "  provided  the  Board  should  be  altered  from  a  Board  of  Representa- 
tion to  a  Board  of  Report  upon  reference  only  ;  that  the  order  to  the  jfovernors  in  Amer- 
ica to  correspond  with  the  Board  of  Trade  only  bo  rescinded  ;  and  that  every  executive 
business  that  has  by  doRrees  crept  i!ito  the  Board  should  revert  to  tho  proper  offices, 
particularly  all  Treasury  business ;  and  that  I  should  not  be  of  the  Cabinet  (which  was 
also  offered  to  me)."  (In  corroboration  of  this  see  Fitzmaurice, /S/ie'6oj/r)ie,  II,  1-3. 
Also  for  the  earlier  position  and  aspirations  of  the  Board,  Ibid.,  1,  24U,    Hillsborough 


'.iHH  nUULRTlS  OF  THE   UNIVERHITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Ordinancn  of  the  same  date.  One,  (on  the  currency),  had 
been  prepai'ed  in  accordance  with  direct  orders  from  home. 
Two  otlier.s  of  the  six  related  to  the  quartering  of  troops 
in  the  province  and  were  repealed  in  consequence  of  a 
general  Act  of  Parliament  on  the  subject.  The  remaining 
one  was  in  regard  to  the  better  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day,  and  was  evidently  defective  in  neglecting  to  provide 
a  penalty  for  one  class  of  offences.  On  the  whole  no  gen- 
eral conclusions  as  to  principle  or  system  can  be  drawn 
from  the  examination  of  the  Imperial  supervision  of  the 
Provincial  legislation. 

Nor  do  we  get  much  more  light  from  the  examination  of 
special  executive  interfei-cmce,  though  here  of  course,  we 
are  not  warranted  in  drawing  the  same  inference  of  neg- 
lect. The  general  conduct  of  the  Provincial  government 
was  constantly  and  largely  influenced  by  the  regular  cor- 
respondence of  the  Secretary  of  State;  but  that  correspon- 
dence was  chiefly  of  a  general  and  non-committal  character, 
and  a  re.solute  governor  like  Carleton  had  no  difficulty  (espe- 
cially in  the  frequent  changes  of  the  secretariat),  in  securing 

resumed  tlio  ponition  of  proHidnnt,  mid  in  ITtiS  hncoiniriK  iilxn  Hoorotary  of  Htiito  for  tJio 
coloriioH  (now  for  tlin  first  tinin  niiidda  Miipariito  dopartmunt),  tlin  two  oflico.swnro  fUlod 
by  him  till  1772.  Durinpr  this  jxiriod  thornforn  tho  rangn  of  tho  activity  of  tho  Board  wan 
a  matt<'r  of  c)ioic«  witii  tiin  Sncrntnry  and  thorn  Hnem.s  t^)  bo  only  a  porsonal  nigtMcance 
in  tlio  communication  to  Carloton,  Muno  11,  17(58),  "that  tlio  ozamination  of  all  laws 
and  orditianco.s  (snact^id  iu  tlii^  coloriioM  apixirtainn  t;i  tho  Dopartmctnt  of  ttio  Board  of 
Trado,"  and  f.Sopt.  2,  1772),  that  "tho  considoratif)n  of  ixirHonH  prorwr  t/j  bo  of  HIh  Ma- 
jesty'w  Counciln  in  tho  Pluntations  is  moro  particularly  within"  tho  samo  Doi)Brtmont. 
(Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  p.  il'j.  Tho  Instructions  to  Carloton  of  1768  and  1775  direct  him  to 
trannmit  U)  tlio  Board,  '  ir  thoir  information,"  duplicat,OH  of  all  roportH ;  oxcopt  (as  it 
is  wordod  in  tho  80th  Articlo  of  tho  Instructions  of  1768;  in  those  of  1775  tho  sondintf  of 
such  roi)orts  is  roforrod  to  only  in  Knnoral  words),  "  in  casos  of  a  socrnt  naturo." 

Tho  third  (luart^r  w  which  tho  ^ovornor  was  rosponsiblo  was  tho  Troasury.  Tim  now 
roRulations  of  1766  roforrod  t/)  nbovo  shows  that  for  some  timo  tho  Boarrl  of  Trado  had 
had  tho  ctmtrol  of  all  colonial  flnancos;  tlio  i)roiM)r  chatmnl  to  which  thoy  wore  now  to 
return  was  tho  Troasury.  In  tho  Minntos  of  tho  Quebec  Omncil  of  Jan.  22,  1767,  wo  find 
a  rofnrenco  to  a  letter  to  Murray  from  the  Sficrotary  of  tho  Treasury,  clat/;d  S<ipt.  ;iO,  1766, 
rofjuirinf?  him  Ut  forward  tho  most  minute  account  of  the  flnancos  of  tho  Province.  In 
accordance  with  which  from  this  timo  on  regular  financial  rei>orts  soom  to  have  been 
sent  to  that  department;  which  had  also  in  tlio  Province  thereaftor  an  tudefyindont 
official,—  tho  R<!ceiv(!r-(»eneral,—  directly  rosiionsible  to  it  alone. 

1  am  indebted  for  valuable  assistance  in  this  mattf^rof  olltcial  conditions  to  tho  lato 
articlo  on  IlilUborouijIi  in  tho  iJictionary  of  .Vdt.  Hiwjraphu. 


COFFIN — THE    PROVINCK  OF  QUEBEC,    17(>0-76.  389 

his  position.  We  yiave  a  couple  of  instances  of  interfer- 
ence in  behalf  of  officials  who  had  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  Murray,  but  only  one  instance  of  the  direct  overturning  of 
Carleton's  action.'  A  case  of  some  constitutional  interest 
occurred  in  17(58,  when  Conway,  the  secretary,  writes  to 
the  governor  directing  him,  in  the  case  of  a  trial  for  murder 
then  ])ending,  to  grant  the  accused,  if  condemned,  a  free 
pardon.'  The  accused  was  acquitted,  and  thus  there  was 
no  occasion  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  injunction;  but  it 
is  of  much  interest  in  connection  with  a  query  addressed  by 
Hillsborough,  March  2d,  177-,'  to  the  crown  lawyers  *  as  to 
whether  there  was  any  legal  objection  to  the  passing  such 
a  pardon  with  the  seal  of  the  colony  on  a  warrant  to  the 
governor  under  His  Majesty's  signet  and  sign  manual,  The 
reply  (by  Thurlow  and  Wedderburn),  v/as  that  as  the  com- 
mission of  the  governor  expressly  restrained  him  in  the 
pardoning  of  murder  they  could  not  recommend  it  to  His 
Majesty  to  command  that  official,  Vjy  warrant  under  the 
signet  and  sign  manual,  to  do  that  which  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  his  office  under  the  great  seal  he  had  no  legal 
power  to  do. 

A  very  significant  interference  finally  is  that  of  Hills- 
V)orough  with  Lieutenant  Governor  Cramah<!;  in  1771  in  re- 
gard to  the  proposition  of  New  York  for  a  consulta- 
tion with  Quebec  and  I'ennsylvania  on  Indian  trade  affairs. 
Cramahf';  seems  to  have  returned  at  first  a  favorable 
answer,'  but  on  his  reporting  the  proposal  home,  he  was 
informed  that  His  Majesty  did  not  approve  of  Indian  con- 
gresses, "and  the  sending  commissioners  from  the  different 
colonies  for  that  purpose, "  and  that  therefore  Quebec  was 

'  I/i  rc«aiil  to  tlio  Iiidiiiii  tnnlc. 

'  Murray's  cotnniisHioii,  lik((  all  colonial  onoR,  eRpccially  excopUid  from  Iuh  pardonioff 
IK)WfT  tlio  crimos  of  tn-MNoii  and  murdor. 

■'  It  in  prohahlo  that  the  greater  KcnirmloKity  of  lh«  later  daUs  is  duo  to  tho  character 
of  the  thon  iiiiniHter. 

*  Ciitoiil'ir  0/  Iliimr  OtJlcr  I'tipcm,  ]77()-72.     No,  1146. 

•He  writes  Oct.  Hist,  however,  that  UillKborouRh'H  disapproval  bad  arrived  in  time  to 
prevent  his  Hendinv  conimiNHiouerR,    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  b'i.) 
8 


390  aUIJ-ETIN  OK  THE   lINIVEttHITV  OK   WIHCONHIN. 

to  take  no  further  stops  in  the  matter.  Not  satisfied  with 
this  M;llsborou«<h  wrote  further  a  few  months  later  that. 
"  it  is  His  Majesty's  pleasure  that  you  do  not  for  the  future 
consent  to  any  jjropositions  for  a])pointinj?  commissioners 
to  attend  a  conj^ress  on  any  occasion,  unh'ss  sucli  conj^njss 
be  authorized  by  jjarticuhir  directions  from  Ffls  Majesty, 
and  His  Majesty's  pleasure  first  sij^nifled  to  y  '  '"or  that 
purpose.  "  Hero  H'^ixiu,  how(iV(jr,  the  matter  is  mu.  iiy  i)er- 
haps  of  ])ersonal  inter<;st;  for  the  uction  of  Hillsborou<^h  is 
in  [)erfect  accord  with  his  ^(>nera!  attitude  on  American 
afTaii's. 


OOKPIN — TICK   PIIOVIISOK  OK  QlfKHKf;,    17<)()-7G,  3')1 


CHAPTKR  VI. 
THK  Qirj:iu:c  act,'— its  okigins  and  aims. 

T\ni  (^u(!hoc  A(;t,  of  1774  is  tho  coniral  point  of  my  in- 
<|uiry.  It  WHS  tin;  fli-st  inl<}rvontion  of  tlio  Iiiipcnal  par- 
liiuriunt  ill  tlnj  alTairs  of  thu  n(!W  i)rovin(;(s  and  <;onstitut<!d 
tlio  dofinito  s«jttl(Mn(Mit  of  <^ov(irnMi<!nt  tiioro  that  liad  Ixmmi 
anxiously  iook<!d  for  (lurin<^  a  wludc  docadfi.  'i'liat  sottlo- 
inont  is  of  oxc(!(>dinj<  intorcst  fi-oni  almost  every  point  of 
viow;  to  tho  oV)sorvor  of  relif^ious  dovoh>pnu  .it,  whotlior  or 
no  h(3  concurs  in  Locky's  opinion  that  it  "  marks  an  epoch 
in  t)i(!  history  of  rolij^ious  lil)orty;"  '  to  tho  invcisti^ator  of 
political  institutions,  as  an  attcsmpt  to  reconcile  alien  prin- 
<;ipl(js  of  <^ov«!rnment;  or  to  the  more  practical  studfmt  of 
l)olitics,  attra(;t(!d  by  tlio  elToct  of  tlie  measure  botli  on  thci 
Amerif'iin  Revolutionary  crisis  and  on  tlio  later  develop- 
ment of  the  vast  n^^^ions  which  after  tho  Uevolution  re- 
mained to  tho  Hritish  ci'own.  It  is  not  necessary  therefore 
to  apolo^i/.e  for  th(;  somewhat  (ixtcjndcd  discussion  that  I 
enter  uj)on  luire;  a  discussion  in  which  1  shall  have  re<<ard 
especially  to  the  third  of  th(!  above  mentioned  points  of 
view, — ^the  Act  in  its  r(nations  to  tin;  American  Revolu- 
tion. 

Let  us  j^lance  lirst  at  th«;  ministerial  steps  leadin*^  ui) 
to  the  enactuMUit,  with  a  word  as  to  the  general  causes 
of  the  delay  of  the  settlement  so  long  and  urgently  needed. 
I  have  throughout  endeavored  to  show  that  the  attitude  of 
the  home  government  towards  Canadiati  atTairs  was  for  tho 
earlier  years  one  of  the  grossest  neglect;  and  that  when 
att(mtlon  at  last  began  to  bo  givcm  to  the  subject,  and  the 

I  Sim  ApiMHiilix  A  for  full  ii'priiit. 

»  llUtnni  itf  h'n;!liinil,  IV.  2'M  did.  l^^Vi). 


392  IIDM-KTIN   (IF  THE   UNiVKRHITV  OV  WIHCONSIN. 

colonial  ofticials  had  at  U!n«j;1li  succeeded  in  impressing?  tho 
homo  official  mind  with  the  fact  that  Canada  could  not  be  dis- 
posed of  by  the  mere  makiii«?  out  for  it  of  copies  of  tho 
forms  which  had  done  duty  so  lonj?  in  th(!  oth<!r  colonies, 
definite  action  was  yet  delayed  in  a  manner  that  must  have 
been  inex[)licaVjle  in  tyie  jirovince.'  The  main  explana- 
tion is  no  doubt  to  be  found  in  tho  shiftinjjj  state  of  Eng- 
lish politics  at  the  time,  and  in  the  instability  of  adminis- 
trations. Into  these  I  cannot  fro  as  fully  as  would  perhaps 
be  useful.  It  will  be  remembered  that  th(!  downfall  of 
Whif?  ascendancy  at  the  accession  of  (Uiorfj^o,  III  in  17()0, 
was  followed  by  what  Lecky  calls  "  ten  years  of  weak  gov- 
ernments and  i)arty  anarchy."'  Half  a  dozen  dilTerent 
ministries  were  formed  and  fell  to  ])iec(!S.  From  1703  to 
1772  no  less  than  twelve  changes  took  place  in  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  State,  six  different  individuals, —  the  Earls  of 
Egremont,  Halifax,  Shelbourne,  IlillsVjorough,  and  Dart- 
mouth, and  the  lion.  Henry  Conway, —  Vjoing  in  succ<!Ssion 
at  the  head  of  colonial  affairs.  At  kmgth  on  the  final  downfall 
of  t?ie  I'itt-Orafton  ministry  early  in  1770,  Lord  North  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  a  Tory  one  which  evisry  day  in- 
creased in  strength,  and  which  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
Tory  ascendancy  of  fifty  years.  It  was  not  till  this  minis- 
try had  been  tirmly  estaVjlished  that  decided  action  in  Cana- 
dian affairs  V)ecame  probable  or  perhaps  possiVjle.' 

A  glance    through  the  political    Memoirs,    etc.,    which 
exist  in  such  abundance  for  this  troubled  period,  does  not 

I  Ah  (Mirly 'IN  Poll,  iil,  I7ftl,  lliililiiniuid  writoH  to  Kiirton  tliat  iiarty  spirit,  in  KiiKlntid 
provMitH  (liifltiito  iirriiiiKcuniiiitH  liciriK  iniuli;  for  ('iiimdii.     (Can.  Arc.li.,  ii.  !l,  |>.  4:i.) 

*lltHl.f>f  Kii!/.,l.  1. 

»  Knf)X,  ill  lilH  "JiiHtico  (itid  Policy  •>(  tim  Quoficc  Act,"  (1774),  niyH  lliatfroiii  lli«  con- 
rjiiPht "  tlincKtabliHliin(int  of  a  proixtr  uiodit  of  civil  KoverriiiiiMit  tli(-r(dii  wuh  coiiHidorivl 
by  tint  t.li(ai  and  l>y  nvnry  Hiibsiniiiont.  udminiNtration  hh  a  iiiatt<T  of  ho  Kroat  iniportanco 
and  of  HO  mncli  difllciilty  tliitt.it.  iMtcainn  tlio  objrnt  of  alnioHl  conntant  dtdilxtratioii."  (p. 
10.)  Tilt!  aiiti-coloniiil  tract,  in  KiipiHirt.  of  tlio  Act,  attributed  to  Sir  John  Dalyryiniiln, 
("  Tho  HiKhtHof  Orrat  Krit.ain  AhhotUhI  AKainnt  tli»(/'lain)H  of  America,"  1770),  corrtictly 
8ayR  that  tlin  Rn(\iiiry  preliminary  t/i  tlit^  Act  wan  iM-^nn  under  tho  (,'hathain  AdininiHtrn- 
tioD,  and  nd<lH  that  in  conwMjiicncc  a  indaHiiro  "  waH  couHid<;rcd  by  tho  Hoard  of  Trad't ;  it 
waa  certainly  debati^d,  ii  not  ndopUifl  by  the  Cubinot  aH  fitr  buck  aH  tho  your  1707." 
Bee  b«low. 


COKFIN — TIIK   I'llOVINCK  OK  QUKHKC,    17«!0    7<).  :{!K{ 

rov«jal  many  nif<!ronces  to  Canadiuu  alTuirs.  Alinon  '  is  au- 
thority for  tlm  HtatoiiMiiit  that  tho  linal  blow  to  th<3  lonj?- 
totterinj^  liockiiif^ljani  ministry  was  adminislorc'd  l)y  tho 
violent  opposition  of  tho  C'hancollor,  Ijivd  Xorthinji^ton,  to 
a  J)  ;posod  bill  for  tho  sottlem<jnt  of  ('anada.  This  was  in 
Jul  ',  170(5,  and  that  the  moasuro  had  boon  undisr  serious 
CO  t(!mplation  at  least  six  monllis  beffjrcs  is  probaljje  from 
;.«,  letter  to  liurk*!,  (then  the  Prime  Minister's  s(M;r(!lary),  of 
the  January  (i  previous.-'  On  June  2,  17()7.  we  find  what  is 
appansntly  the  r(!sult  of  tho  only  interposition  of  <jither 
Hous(j  of  I'arliauKjnt  in  Canadian  alTairs  previous  to  tho 
(Juebee  Act. '  'i'h<.'  order  of  the  day  on  lliat  dale  in  tlie 
House  of  fjords  was  th(!  taUin^jj  into  consideration  the 
papers  laid  before  the  Ilt)us<!'  on  the  previous  Wednesday 
relating?  to  the  state  of  Quebec;  and  the  House  having  ;<one 
into  committee},  reported  the  f(dlowinj^  resolutions:  "That 
it  apjKiurs  to  tlie  committee  that  the  I'l'ovince  of  (^uijIxjc 
for  a  considei-alji(;  time  ])ast  has  wanted,  and  does  now 
stand  in  need  of.  further  nj^uiations  and  provisions  relat- 
ing to  its  civil  «(overnment  and  lelipious  estal)lishment. " 
This  looks  promisin*,',  hu\  we  hear  nothin;.?  further  of  it, 
thouf^h  on  the  lioih  of  the  sam*;  month  SheIb(Mirne  writes 
to  Carleton  that  "the  improvetnent  of  its  I  (.juel>ec's|  civil 
constitution,  is  ijnd(!r  the  most  serious  and  d(!lib(;rato  con- 
sideration of  His  ^Majesty's  servants,  and  ])rincipally  of 
His  Maj(!sty'.s  Privy  Council ,"''  The  followinj^  January 
(17()H)  one  Marsh  writes  to  llaldimand  of  tlu;  impossil)ility 
of  gettinjj  tlie  Ministry  to  attend  to  American  affairs.'' 
Noveml)er  4,  17()9,  ilillsborou«j:h  informs  Carleton  that  the 


*  *  Anrctliittm  of  I'huthnin,  11,76.    Hvin  aln<>  CIkiIIuiih  CiirrrHii.,  II,  4;W,  and  AllMiiiiarlu'M 
IdiikhiiilKiiii,  I, ;tri()      I^i^cky  iicci^iitM  Aliiioii's  stiitniiiciil  witliniit  iiiiitstinn,  III,  tU. 

'  Dr.  'I'liii-i.  lii-liiiiil  t<i  Hiirki*.  (Ittirkii'M  I'm  riKiioiniiiiri-,  VdI.  I.)  It  i.i  not  iiiiixisriihlo 
that,  tliii  riirnniiion  inay  Imi  iiicirnly  t<i  tlm  iiKKotiatimiH,  imt  tlioii  ciiiiipliitinl,  u<>iic<^riiiiii{ 
tint  iiialiiiiK  Kood   liy  KriiiiCK  >if  tlii'  olil  |m|HT  iiiiiiii'.v  iif  tint  provilicii. 

*  I'liiliitiiiiiiliirn  lli.iliirii,  Vol.  Itl. 

*  At  ItM  own  ni({U*iHt  of  tlin  pnivioiin  May  a).  (CkI.  Ilmni-  ()l)l<e  I'li/iriii,  17*3-9.  No.  492.) 
•Can.  Arch.,  II.  i,  p    riU. 

:    'Can.  Arch.,  li.  Os,  p.  2lU. 


394  HUM-ETIN   OK  TIIK   I'NIVKRSITV  (iK   WIHCoNSIN. 

consideration  of  the  affairs  of  Canada  has  boon  dolayod  by 
the  recess  of  Parliament,  but  that  ho  lias  been  assured  that 
it  will  be  immediately  taken  up  aj,'ain;  '  January  L',  1771,  ho 
writes  af^ain  that  a  bill  for  the  temporary  ^ivin«<  oi  loj^is- 
lative  i)ower  to  the  Council  in  Canada  will  be  pres(,'ntod  on 
the  openinj^  of  Parliament,-'  and  the  following  .lulyJJ,'  that 
Quol)ec  affairs  have  boon  submitted  to  the  I*rivy  Council. 
But  Uecembor  4,  he  informs  him  that  the  measures  are  not 
yet  ready,  and  that  the  matter  h)oinj^  a  delicate  ono  will 
probably  be  submitted  to  I'urliament. '  Lord  North's  gov- 
ernment was  firmly  established  Vjy  this  time,  and  the  delay 
for  eighteen  months  longer  is  probably  oue  to  the;  linger- 
ing of  the  final  rG))orts  from  the  Crown  lawyers.  Finally, 
May  4,  1774,  Dartmouth  writes  to  Liciutonant-Covernor 
Cramahc  that  on  the  previous  Monday  (May  2)  he  had  i)re- 
sented  the  Quebec  Bill  to  the  Hou.se  of  Lords. 

This  session  of  Parliament  it  will  be  remfimbored  was 
mainly  occupied  with  the  three  coercive  measures  in  re- 
gard to  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Those  had 
been  introduced  in  the  Commons  almost  simultaneously, 
had  met  with  a  vigorous  resistance,  but  had  been  pushed 
through  by  the  government  with  large  majorities.  It  was 
after  they  had  been  disposed  of,  and  after  most  of  the 
members  of  both  houses,  fatigued  by  their  close  attend- 
ance, had  left  for  the  country  that  the  Quebec  Bill  quietly 
appeared  in  the  House  of  Lords.'    It  was  not  introduced  as 

iCan.  Arch.,  Q.  (I,  p.  Til. 

'Ihiil.,  Q.  K,  p.  1.  Tlid  fixiict  chanirtfir  of  tlic  coiitcinpliiff d  incnsiirr- hociiik  iiIhii  nt 
thiH  timo  to  linvo  tmcii  known  t<>  tlio  provincial  otliciiils;  for  April  :«),  Oimmli^'  ri'pli»H 
tiifif  t.li(^  |iroM|H'Ct  <if  a  firm  Hi^ttlcuKint  waH  Hatisfaclory  to  "  all  Hi.s  Majnsty'x  new  sub- 
joctK  anil  tlio  manner  of  iloiiiK  it  H«nins  ixirfoctly  UKrotablo  t4i  tliiMr  innnuur  of  tliinkinK." 
(Ibi<l.,Q.  K,  r..  «.) 

'Ibi(l.,Q.H.  p.  2«. 

*Ibiil.,  p.  7ft.  TIiIh  K(>oms  to  hIiow  that  for  a  short  time  Iho  minlHtry  thoii»fht  of  witt- 
linif  ("anadian  affairs  by  exociifivci  act  merely.  Acconlin»f  to  Lord  ManKflitlil's  jikIk- 
ment  of  1774  this  was  not,  liowever,  within  the  comiiotonce  of  the  execiitivr- ;  nticl  it  w«h 
probably  fnmi  somo  misKivinK  on  the  iHiint  that  it  was  decideil  t«  submit  the  matter 
U>  Parliament.  The  Mansfield  jn'l»;ment  was  not  delivered  till  November  'in,  nix  monthg 
aft<'r  the  Qik^Im-c  Hill  had  Jn^come  law. 

'  Hv.e  Ann.  Jiiy.,  IIU,  p.  74.    Also  note  in  4  A merican  ArcfUve»,  I,  p.  214. 


COFFIN— TIIK   PROVINCE  OK  QlIKIlF.C    ITOO    7C.  ',VJb 

in  any  way  connected  with  the  previous  American  meas- 
ures, and  the  government  evidently  anticipated  no  serious 
0]tposition.  With  very  sli^iit  notice  itpassed  the  Lo»'ds  on 
the  17th  of  May,  (ai)i)anmtly  without  a  division),  and  on 
the  Ibth  was  l)rouj<ht  to  the  Commons,  liut  here  it  met 
with  an  unexi)ec1edly  vij^orous  opposition,  its  op))onents, 
thouj^h  lew  in  numbers,  stubbornly  tijifhtinj^  every  clause. 
Sir  Thomas  Mills,  Keceiver-(ieneral  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec,  writes  to  Haldimand,  June  14,  1774,'  that  "we 
have  had  as  hard  fi«(htin«^  and  many  more  battles  to  estab- 
lish government  for  Canada  as  there  were  to  conquer  it. 
You  would  be  astonished  at  the  opposition  mad«j  to  the 
bill;  ten  nights  tli<;  House  of  Commons  was  kept  till  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  successively.  Every  inch  of  the 
ground  was  argued  and  every  word  disputed." 

We  art!  fortunate  in  ]»ossessing  of  the  debate  on  this  oc- 
casion a  fuller  report  than  of  any  otlxsr  part  of  this  Parlia- 
ment.' This  is  from  the  sliorthand  notes  of  Sir  Henry 
Cavendish,  member  of  Lostwithiel,  a  supporter,  (but  not  a 
slavisii  one),  of  the  government.  It  will  not  be  necessary 
to  go  fully  into  the  discussion,  however,  as  it  may  easily 
be  imagined  what  line  of  battle  would  be  assumed  against 
such  a  measure  by  an  opposition  with  Burke  and  Pox  at 
its  head.  Though  the  battle  was  spirited  the  opposition 
seems  soon  to  have  Viecome  hopeless  of  effecting  anything; 
and  its  efforts  were  more  remarkable  for  lighting  every  inch 
than  for  serious  or  j  )longed  struggle  at  any  one  point.' 
Lord  North  was  on  the  whole  conciliatory,  showing  no 
special  love  for  or  interest  in  the  measure,  but  yet  evi- 
dently determined  to  push  its  main  provisions  through. 
Very  little  indication  is  given  that  the  bill  was  considered 

"rBn.Arch..B.27,  p.  :n4. 

'  LonR  known  an  tlip  lInrciK)rt4-<l  I'lirliatnpnt.  Tlin  ((nrlifr  part  is  now  supplirtd  to  us 
from  the  nfimc' source  as  t hut  for  llic  (l(>hat<f  on  tlii"  (.^iiclx'C  Hill.  During  thin  seHnion 
tlu'  ordiir  for  tlic  exclusion  of  stranjfi-rs  was  enforceil  with  niinsiial  vigour. 

•  Thp  chief  contoHt  was  in  thu  latltr  part  of  the  ilitcusfcion,  on  the  inutu^r  of  llio  jury 
syBfcm. 


396  IIUM.ETIN  OK  THE   UNIVKHWITV  OF   WIKOONHIN. 

to  have  any  connection  with  the  direct  steps  taken  to  re- 
press America,  the  ministry  taltinj?  no  notice  of  the  few 
and  obscure  liints  dropped  to  that  olVect.  A  i)eculiar 
feature  is  the  repetition  Ijy  the  Opposition  of  questions  as 
to  the  authorship  of  the  measure,  the  Crown  lawyers  being 
persistently  taunted,  (without  drawing  from  them  any  vig- 
orous disclaimer),  with  not  being  willing  to  father  it,  if 
not  at  heart  opposed  to  it.  In  this  connection  the  letter  of 
Mills  quoted  from  already  is  of  great  interest.'  The  writer 
proceeds  (from  the  point  cjuoted  above);  "Much  i)ain  and 
trouble  it  has  cost  me.  The  Bill  was  first  put  in  my 
hands  containing  ten  sheets  in  folio,  in  my  mind  the 
shorter  it  was  the  better.  The  limits,  the  religion,  the 
French  law,  and  the  Council,''  they  owe  to  me.  My  con- 
science, however,  tells  me  that  I  was  not  only  serving 
justice  and  country,  but  also  doing  justice  to  the  con- 
quered." Of  equal  interest  are  his  continuing  words  as  to 
the  curious  attitude  of  the  ministry.  "  In  the  House  of 
Lords  I  had  not  much  trouble,  but  great  difficulty  in  keep- 
ing Lord  North  and  the  Ministry  steady  and  firm  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  You  would,  however,  have  pitied 
them,  for  they  were  teased  and  harrassed  to  death.  They 
were  very  negligent  in  studying  the  subject,'  which  of 
course  gave  the  others  the  best  of  the  argument,  and  then 
they  had  to  combat  against  all  the  popular  topics,  viz.,  tVie 
Popish  religion,   no  juries,   no  assemblies,   etc.     Masures 

•  It  is  noticonhlo  that  Jmin  H,  1769,  tlio  Sucrntary  of  tlio  Hoard  i>f  Tratlo  (PownuU) 
writos  to  tlui  Trca-iury  rciiiuiHtiiiK  that  Rocfivi^r-Ocnoral  MiJls  Jm-  aUowod  to  nnnnin 
sonio  timo  in  KiiKlan'l,  as  Iw  can  kIvh  UHpful  iiiforiiiatioii  to  tim  Lords  of  Trad((  rosijoct- 
ing  Oiii'bcc. 

'Th(i  main  points,  it  will  \w  noticed,  over  which  controvoriy  ruKod  thon  and  aftnr.  It 
will  bo  soun  later,  however,  that  the  oriKin  of  those  wan  by  no  moans  so  Minorva-liko  as 
it  upiioared  to  Mr.  Mills. 

'  Wodderbourno,  the  Solicitor-Ooneral,  who  liad  prepared  a  aiKicial  report  on  Canadian 
affairs  and  claimed  to  liave  thoroURlily  studied  the  subject,  brouKht  forward  in  the 
arRumont  as  to  the  non  KrantiuK  of  juries,  the  conduct  of  the  juries  of  QuoImic  in  the 
revenue  trials  of  IVtiO  and  1769,  as  proof  that  the  Canadians  were  not  fit  for  the  institu- 
tion. Whereas  the  juries  on  both  occasioaa  are  expressly  atatod  by  MasSres  to  have 
been  entirely  EukUsIi. 


COFFIN — TlIK   PllOVINCK  OK  QUEIIEC,    17(Jl)    7(i.  397 

and  Murray  behaved  infamously,  Carleton  and  Hey  ex- 
ceedingly i)rop«!r,  steady  and  well.  '  What  degree  of  credit 
is  to  bo  given  to  any  part  of  this  self  inflated  epistle  it  is 
imjjossible  to  rnriuire  very  closely.  The  animated  char- 
a(;ter  of  the  debate  was  kept  till  the  close;  the  linal  word 
according  to  Cavendish  being  the  vigorously  expressed 
opinion  of  a  thoroughly  disgust<!d  opponent  that  the 
sjjoaker  "should  throw  the  liill  over  the  table,  and  some- 
body else  should  kick  it  out  at  the  door." 

Of  considerable  imi)ortance  is  it  to  observe  the  attenu- 
ated character  of  the  House  on  this  occasion.  The  total 
number  of  members  at  the  lime  was  ')')H,  and  the  main 
divisions  on  this  Bill  were  as  follows:  second  reading,  105 
to  29,  final  vote,  ')<»  to  L'n.  These  numbers  are  undoubt- 
edly much  higher  than  during  the  actual  debate,  Cavendish 
noting  on  two  occasions  that  only  about  4i)  members  were 
in  the  House.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  under  these 
conditions  the  government  supi)ort  would  belong  to  the 
most  dependent,  corrupt  and  unrepresentative  part  of  this 
most  corrupt  and  unrepresentative  of  Parliaments.'  We 
need  not  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  Bill  through  the  slight 
opposition  it  met  with,  (fi'om  seven  peers),  on  its  return  to 
the  Lords,  nor  through  the  vigorous  but  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt to  repeal  it  in  the  following  year.  (Division  in 
Commons.  174  to  80.)  After  a  long  labor  and  painful  birth 
it  had  appeared  for  good  or  ill;  it  will  now  be  necessary 
to  examine  its  provisions  more  carefully,  with  a  view  to 
determining  the  ideas  that  inspired  them  and  estimating 
their  more  immediate  results. 

B.     History  of  Main  Provislonft. 

The  phrase  used  by  Mills  above, — "The  limits,  the  relig- 
ion, the  French  law,  and  the  Council,  ' — is  a  succinct 
statement  of  the  main  subject  mattei's  of  the  new  enact- 

'  Soe  stiit(Mn«iit,H  of  Locky  (Vol.  Ill,  pp.  171,  IT.'tJ  that  in  1770  1!W  n\HiMlx»rs  of  tlio  Com- 
mons hold  pliicos  undnr  Bovorunn'iit,  iiiiil  that  it  w:im  comiiiitMi)  in  1774  thut  fully  half  of 
the  members  for  England  and  Wales  ropro.sonted  a  total  of  only  11,">UU  votor.s. 


398  mJM.KTiN  OK  THE  UMVEKsrrr  uv  wihconsin. 

ment;  and  in  discussinK  them  I  shall  adopt  tho  same  order 
both  as  logical  and  as  the  order  of  the  Act  itself. 

a.  /{(iinidniues.  First,  therefore,  as  to  the  limits  or  bound- 
aries of  the  newly  defined  Province.  This  part  of  the  Act, 
though  the  most  short  lived,'  mif^ht  probal)ly  bo  contended  to 
be  the  most  noticeable  and  im]»or1ant  with  regard  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  measure  on  the  course  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution. The  inclusion  of  th«;  Western  country  within  the 
limits  of  Canada,  in  connfjction  with  other  provisions,  was 
taken  as  indicative  of  a  settled  and  lon<^-meditat(;d  design  on 
the  part  of  the  En{j^lishf?overnnient  to  hinder  the  extension 
of  tl  ■sself-governinj?  colonies  by  attachinj?  the  vast  unsettled 
ref,'ions  West  and  Southwest  to  the  arbitrary  "government 
which  that  Act  seemed  to  establish.^  There  was  the  more 
likelihood  of  suspicion  or  irritation  upon  this  i)oint  becau.se 
of  the  fact  that  the  final  disposition  of  the  western  country 
had  been  in  suspen.se  since  the  peace,  and  because  the  first 
ste]>  of  the  imperial  authorities  with  regard  to  it,  in  the  Proc- 
lamation of  1708,  had  been  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  the 
older  colonies.  Modern  writers  have  contended  that  the 
settled  pur])ose  of  hindering  the  extension  of  these  colonies 
by  now  and  arbitrary  measures,  is  clearly  shown  in  that 
proclamation,  and  shown  thus  for  the  first  time;  that  in 

1  RciM^;»li«l  for  tlid  most  piirt  by  t!i("  pnivisiotiM  of  tin-  Treaty  of  Vi-rsiiiUns,  IVK),  tlio 
Proviiici-  of  QiKibfc  hi'iiiK  tlii>ii  il(<i»'ivMil  of  tlioHi<  pitrtH  which  now  form  tliu  KtiitoH  of 
0}iio,  Iniliiiiia,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin  ami  part  of  Miiiruisota, 

^  The  tenacity  and  attractivcnuH",  (throimh  itM  inhcn-nt  [irohahility  I,  of  thi.s  idea  from 
tlio  c<>h)iiial  standiioint  is  easily  tinilersttxul.  It.-  genera!  vitality,  min'eover,  is  illux- 
trated  in  the  latest  andlM'st  history  of  ('atinda  fro.n  thr^  native  and  Im|N>rial  stand- 
point (Kinusford'h).  The  author,  while  viKoronsly  defendint;  the  Qiielx^c  Act  iu  the 
maiD,  and  a^sertinK  tliat  Im  can  "  discovernu  admissible  ^ronnd  for  the  acceptance" 
of  the  belief  that  its  main  measnr(<s  were  diii^  to  the  condition  of  thiiiKS  in  the  other 
colonies,  yet  says  of  the  ((Xt<>nsion  to  the  west  (for  which  otherwise  he  can  flnil  nu  ez- 
planntiou) :  "  It  is  iKi.ssible  that,  the  spirit  of  revolt  dominant  in  the  colimieH  may  have 
le<l  to  the  desire  of  preventing  the  exercise  of  any  pretension  over  the  territory  of  the 
We. -tern  provinc<(sof  V'ir»?iida  atid  F'ennsylvatda  [  !)  ;  and  of  opjKtsinR  by  legislation  all  ex- 
tension iM'yond  their  admitted  frontier."  (V.  'm.)  The  failnre  of  this  writiT  to  find 
other  reasons  may  probably  be  explained  from  his  acconipanyiiiK  as.Mtrfion  that  west  of 
Montreal  "  at  the  jH-riod  of  coiKjuest  there  was  scarcely  a  whito  man  established,"  and 
from  bis  disreKard  iu  this  conncctioD  of  the  fur  trade.         ^ 


CdKKlN— THE    l-RdVINCK  (>V  Ql'KHEC,    I  7«;0    76.  399 

this  light  it  was  the  tirst  step  in  a  now  policy  of  tyrannical 
restriction  of  which  the  culmination  was  the  Act  of  Par- 
liament which  in  1774  finally  annexed  the  West  to  the  un- 
free  Province  of  Quoboc' 

This  contention  is  of  course  incompatible  with  the  more 
ordinary  view^that  the  (Quebec  Act.  in  this  as  in  its  other 
provisions,  was  called  out  by  the  critical  state  of  thin«,'s  in 
the  older  y)rovinces  in  or  about  the  yoai-s  177.'!  4;  and  before  I 
go  on  to  deal  with  tlu;  latter  opinion  it  will  be  necessary 
to  consider  the  variation. 

It  is  manifest  that  if  British  colonial  j)olicy  underwent 
such  a  decided  change  in  the  ])e)iod  17(iO  3,  we  are  justified 
in  exjjecting  to  find  evidence  of  that  change  in  the  con- 
fidential communications  between  the  Imperial  and  the 
colonial  authorities,  or  in  the  .semi-ot!icial  utterances  of  that 

1  Till' rliicf  cxiiro-siim  nf  lliin  view  will  he  roiiriil  in  IliiiMJiili',  <ilil  Xnrlhnisl,  c.  H. 
Till-  writer  rniisiijiTH  tliiit  with  tin-  treaty  of  Paris.  I'^iuliiinl,  iihiiiiiliuiiiii^  the  old  seii-to- 
Hell  riiliiiiiiil  oliiiin.-,  iiiKile  a  ileciileil  rhiiiiK'!  in  her  land  iKilicy ;  that  while  the  Oliid 
Krant  of  I7IK  r<hiiweil  that  "  Klie  hail  then  nn  tlioiiKlit  of  |>rtiveiitiiiK  over-iiioiintain  set* 
tierni-nts,  or  of  limiting  the  ex|ianHinn  of  the  coIdiiie.K  iu  that  ilirection,"  (p.  r.rt(ll,  now, 
alarinid  at  their  rapid  growth,  she  took  iiieasiire-4  to  |K'rnianently  sever  them  from  tlin 
western  lands.  This  it  is  intimated  was  one  of  the  main  motives  nf  the  I'roclamation  of 
176H.  The  writer,  however,  d(M'H  not  Henin  very  deciiled  nrxin  the  |)<)iiit,  and  c<mcln<|pH 
with  the  adtnission  that  on  the  wliole,  "  in  the  years  followinir  the  French  war  tlio  West- 
ern iMiliry  of  the  Hritisli  was  not  steady  or  coiisi  tent,  hut  fitful  and  oaiiricioii-' ; 
prompted  hy  a  solicitude  for  the  Indian  that  was  partly  feigned  and  r"»rtly  t)y  a  Krow- 
ini;  jealousy  of  till!  shore  colonies,"  (p.  141.)  Yet  immedintely  after  the  half-ahandoiieil 
position  is  resumed  in  tho  .statement  that  "  thirt  jKilicy  of  restriction  culminated  in  1774 
in  the  Qnohec  Act,"  one  of  the  main ';hjeotf;  of  which  was  "  iiermanently  to  sever  tlie 
West  from  the  shorn  colonics  and  put  it  in  train  for  iM'iuK  cut  up,  when  tho  timn  slioulii 
come,  into  indeixmilnnt  ttovnrninentH  that  should  have  ntliliaticmH  with  tiii>St.  Lawroncn 
basin  rather  than  with  tlie  Atlantic  h1o|m'."  The  irritated  colonies,  we  are  told,  liM>l<eil 
uiMin  the  new  boundaries  Kiven  to  QucIm-c  by  tho  Act  "  as  a  llnal  elTorl  to  wrest  the  West 
from  them  forever,  '  RiMisevelt  (  U'iimhiii  of  tlir  H'rnl,  I,  c,  2),  expres.ses  the  sami-  ideaH 
in  a  Komewliat  dilTerent  form.  Far-reachini;  n.s  are  the  atMive  views  thoy  do  not  attain 
that  breadth  of  as.sertion  which  we  And  in  an  pven  morn  rocent  opinion,  that  from  itM 
conipiest  in  17tK)  Canada  was  regarded  by  the  Hriti-h  uovernn^ent  as  h  pnhit  iV  ni'init 
"  for  the  support  of  the  ministerial  iH)licy  inas.sertinw  Hritish  parliatnentary  supremacy 
over  the  coloniow."  (Review  of  Life  of  .Mm  Jkitlrmon,  N.  Y,  Nation,  July  !'•*,  1894.)  These 
opinionB  are  illustrative  of  the  lat/ist  phase  of  revolutionary  study,  tliat  wliich  cent<?rH 
round  tho  comparatively  frof h  field  of  Woftorn  interests  and  advance.  They  are  the  re- 
sult of  hasty  Roneralization  from  onr-fided  investipation,  stimulat<>d  by  the  suspicions 
that  contomporury  ovent.s  and  the  hentod  nssertionts  of  tho  revolutionary  aRo  itself  t«nd 
naturally  to  onKendnr.  It  i.s  all  tho  more  nucesaory  tbot  thoy  should  Ik-  promptly  con- 
fronted with  tho  factH;  which  muHt  be  my  juBtiflcation  for  the  detail  with  which  I  have 
coDtiidered  tho  subject. 


400  BULLITIN  OV  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK   WISCONSIN. 

tlmo  or  of  the  years  Intorvonlng  between  It  and  the  Kevo* 
lution.  It  is  to  bo  presumed  tluit  the  exponents  of  the 
idea  of  chan«?o  have  made  search  for  such  evidence,  and 
fair  to  assume  tliat  tlioy  have  i)rouj?ht  forward  all  tlie  evi- 
dence found.  But  what  is  i)resonted  as  such  practically 
amounts  only  to  Hillsborough's  representation  in  1772  with 
regard  to  the  intentions  of  those  who  drew  up  the  Procla- 
mation of  1703.  It  is  not  shown,  or  attempted  to  be  shown, 
that  Hillsborouj^hs  apparent  interpretation  of  that  docu- 
ment as  containin<r  a  declaration  of  new  policy,  has  more 
than  the  weight  of  his  individual  opinion;  it  is  not  shown 
that  even  Hillsborough  ascribes  anj'  pecular  influence  to 
the  acquisition  of  Canada  Vet  herein  is  the  whole  matter. 
For  it  will  be  found  on  closer  examination  that  the  aim  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  in  thut  measure  was  precisely  the  same  as 
had  actuated  it  for  years  before;  that  the  only  change  pro- 
duced by  the  acquisition  of  Canada  was  the  new  and  ex- 
tensive field  in  which  the  old  policy  was  to  be  applied. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  acquisition  of  Canada  was  the 
starting  point  or  confirmation  of  the  new  policy.  If  this 
were  so  some  trace  of  that  view  of  tlie  acquisition  must 
surely  ajipear  in  the  state  papers  or  political  discussions 
with  regard  to  it.  Before  going  into  the  State  corres- 
pondence let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  circumstances 
attendant  on  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1763.  From  the  day  of 
the  conquest  of  Canada  in  1760  to  that  of  its  final  cession, 
the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  it  should  be  retained  by 
Great  Britain,  and  what  place,  in  the  event  of  retention,  it 
should  occupy  in  the  American  system,  was  before  the 
public,  and  keenly  and  thoroughly  debated  in  the  pamphlet 
and  periodical  literature.  In  this,  if  anywhere,  we  should 
expect  to  find  *races  of  any  new  aspect  that  the  possession 
of  Canada  might  be  supposed  to  give  to  American  affairs; 
it  is  hardly  possible  that  a  new  line  of  action  based  on 
that  possession  could  be  contemplated  without  foreshadow- 
ing or  reflection  of  it  in  this  quarter.     An  exhaustive  ex- 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEnEC,    17(iO-76.  401 

umination  of  this  material  has  not  been  i)Ossible;  but  the 
close  scrutiny  of  a  very  considerable  portion '  has  failed  to 
furnish  any  evidence  that  Canada  at  any  ]>art  of  this  period 
a]>i)eared  to  the  English  public  mind  in  the  slightest  degree 
in  the  light  of  a  weapon  or  base  of  hostile  action  against  the 
other  colonies;  nothing  has  boon  discovered  to  support  the 
belief  that  eitlier  the  terms  of  jieace  or  the  following  dis- 
positions concerning  the  new  Province,  wore  inlluenced  by 
any  but  friendly  and  comparatively  generous  feelings  to- 
ward those  colonies.  The  only  evidences  of  illiberal  feel- 
ing that  can  be  produced  are  in  the  writings  of  those  who 
argue  against  the  retention  of  C-inada.-'  The  main  points 
of  the  very  energetic  argument  for  West  Indian  in  prefer- 
ence to  Canadian  ac([uisition,  were  the  alleged  greater 
commercial  value  of  the  former,  and  the  danger  that  if  the 
older  colonies  were  relieved  of  the  menace  of  the  French, 
they  would  speedily  become  independent,  troublesome,  and 
perhaps  rebellious.  This  was  answered  almost  wholly  by 
the  statement  that  the  war  had  been  undertaken  and 
carried  on  for  the  relief  of  the  colonies  through  the  expul- 
sion or  crippling  of  the  French;  that  the  colonists  had 
helped  materially  toward  success,  and  that  England  there- 
fore must  in  justice  or  generosity  see  that  the  French 
should  never  again  be  a  danger  and  hindrance.  It  need 
not  be  supposed  of  course  that  there  was  any  losing  sight 
of  the  more  domestic  interests  of  Great  Britain  in  this 
matter;  still  less,  however,  can  it  be  assumed  that  the  in- 

•  Tlint  ntlonlod  by  the  Spurks  Collection  of  Colonial  Tracts  in  the  Cornell  University 
Library,  and  by  the  Riniilar  collections  in  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Library,  and 
in  the  Canadiun  Arciiives. 

'•'  See  osiiecially,  "  Remarks  on  the  Letter  addressed  to  two  Great  Men.  In  a  Letter  to 
the  Author  of  that  Piece."  (London,  1700.  Attribnt«d  to  Edmund  or  William  Burke.) 
The  viRorous  reply  to  this;  "The  Interest  of  Great  Britain  coninderod,  with  regard  to 
her  Colonies,  and  the  acquisition  of  Canada  and  Guadeloupe, "—(London,  1760),—  is  at* 
tributed  to  Franklin,  and  was  one  of  the  most  influential  of  the  pamphlets;  the  Min- 
istry which  took  the  course  it  contends  for  can  scarcely  bo  charged  with  hostile  views. 
A  later  pamphlet,  ( "  An  Examination  of  the  Commercial  Principles  of  the  late  Negotia- 
tion," etc.,  1762),  attributed  to  Edmund  Burke,  refers  to  the  author  of  the  foregoing  one  as 
the  chief  advocate  of  the  system  which  was  proceeded  upon  in  the  negotiations  for  peace, 
negotiations  which  had  for  ttieir  main  object  the  possession  of  Canada. 


402  HUI,I,Eri!S  OK  THE   UNIVEllSlTy   OK   WIHCONSIN. 

tere.sts  of  tlio  colonies  wore  noj^locted,  or  that  underneath 
an  aj)paront  .sol'Kjitudci  lay  sinister  designs.  A  sti'ilcing 
feature  of  tlxi  contention  is  the  n^adiness  with  which 
iK'ai'ly  all  admit  the  «<reat(U'  corain(;rcial  value;  of  the  West 
indi(is,  and  the  couiijarative  worth lessness  and  lack  of 
l)roinise  of  ('anada.  The  notable  pamphlet  entitled, 
"A  Letter  addressed  U)  Two  (Jreat  Men,"'  declares  that 
thouf^'h  "  The  possession  of  Canada  is  no  view  of  Ambition, " 
yet  the  ministry  sliould  make  it  "the  fihw  </ii<i  non  of  the 
Peace,  as  the  only  method  of  j^uarding  our  invaluable  pos- 
sessions there  from  usurpations  and  (jncroachnients  "  l)y  the 
FriMjch.  In  a  })ami)hlet  |,i-esuniaij|y  by  lOdniund  IJurke'  it 
is  shown  witli  se(;minj^conclusiv(;ness  tiiat  West  Indian  trade 
was  far  mortj  important  than  North  American.  The  writer 
<:omplaijis  furthei-  that  the  ai-«<ument,  (considered  by  him 
futile),  for  the  retention  oT  ("anada  on  account  of  bein;[? 
necessary  to  th(;  safety  and  pros^jerity  of  the  colonies,  had 
been  so  enforc(id  upon  the  i)ublic  mind  "that  Canada  came 
at  last  to  take  an  entire  Possession  of  our  Hearts  and  Un- 
derstandinj^s;  and  we  were  taught  to  believe  that  no  cession 
was  too  j^reat  to  purchase  thi:i  inestimabh;  security,  this 
immoveable  Harrier  of  all  our  Colonies."  A  })ami)hlet  of 
17(5-  in  defence  of  the  pro))osed  ti-eaty  which  bears 
strong?  marks  of  bein^  inspired,  rests  the  defence  of  the 
acquisition  of  Canada  instead  of  Gaudaloupe  wholly  on  the 
security  of  the  old  colonies;  which,  even  if  the  defence  bo 
not  an  authorized  one,  shcjws  that  this  was  known  to  be  the 
argument  which  would  appeal  most  sti-ongly  to  the  con- 
stituency addressed."    Three  years  later  a  more  elaborate 

'  "A  Lnttnr  iiddrnHHHd  toTwo  (jrmit  Men,  <m  \\m  "rosi«)i;ti  'jf  I'mici) ;  iiiiclon  tlintormn 
ni'CHHsary  to  1)1)  iii.iihidil  mioii  Id  (Iih  .N'l^Buliatioii,"  f  Loiiilon,  17t!0,  -ml  odilioii.  Jiirn(i 
.Simiks  colloctioii.  Attrihiiti'd  by  SpurkM  to  tl)n  Karl  <\f  Hall)).  Said  by  Litcky  to  liavo 
hail  "a  VKry  widi-  iiitliii^DCD  atid  circ,uhifii)ii."    (FII,  'l',i\.) 

'"Ati  HxuiiiiiiatiDii  of  tlm  C'DiDiDorcial    I'riiiciplos,"  otc. 

'  "  A  letter  to  tJK)  Eurl  of  Bute  uii  tliu  I'ruliiiiitiarius  of  Pnacn.  Fioni  iiinthor  a  uohlo 
Lord  ;  ii  candid  iiu)iiil>i^r  of  I'ariiainoiit ;  an  impartial  Hritiiu,  but  an  ICuijUiliMiau."  CLou- 
dou,  Vm.) 


COB-KIN — TUB   imoVINCK  OK  QIIKHK*;,    17()<.'    Tt).  K)!} 

writor,'  summint?  up  in  a  judicial  way  tlio  war  and  the 
j)()ac(!,  aj)|)(!al.s  t(j  all  partios  to  support  hiin  in  tho  asser- 
tion that  the  chicsf  sontimunt  of  tho  nation  throu^liout  tho 
poriod  was,  "That  our  cohjnios  in  Nortli  America  nujrited 
tho  first  and  chi»jf  attention  and  care  of  their  mothfu' 
country,  "  and  that  as  tiiey  wer<!  in  «?reat  dan{^(u'  from 
French  encroacliinent,  it  was  considered  that  "  nothin«^  too 
j^roat,  nothinf^  too  ox|)ensive,  nothin«<  too  ha/.ardous  could 
be  undei'taken  for  their  relief." 

T'liis  hriiif  survey  of  tho  i)ul>Iic  ex|)ressions  of  tho  jiarty 
writcirs  with  r(it<ard  to  t}ie  ac(iuisition  and  use  of  (Canada 
shows  at  Usast  that  whatever  may  hava  b(!en  the;  pi-ivate 
motives  of  tlio  A<lministration,  the  gcjneral  political  mind 
had  at  this  time  become  impressed  mainly  willi  considera- 
tions as  to  tho  saf(ity  and  advance  of  tlio  colonies.  An  ex- 
amination of  tli(;  Parliamentary  Debates  on  tho  preliminary 
Treaty  in  1702  brinj^s  us  a  stcsp  furthcsr.  No  full  rejjort 
is  to  bo  found,  but  the  abstract  of  the  Parliamentary 
Histoi-y  <?ives  the  followinf^resumr  of  "  the  ])rinciple  ai'j^u- 
ments  whicli  were  olTered  in  favoi-  of  the  Treaty  in  the 
Commons."  "'IMiat  the  o)'i<<inal  ol)ject  of  tho  war  was  the 
security  of  our  colonies  upon  the  continent,"  and  that 
therefor*;  dan<jf<M-  t(j  th(;in  must  once  for  all  be  guarded 
against;  tliat  such  danger  being  alTorded  by  tlio  continued 
presence  of  Fi-auce,  to  remove  or  contract  her  power  was 
"tho  most  capital  advantage  we  can  obtain,  and  is  worth 
purchasing  by  almost  any  concessions; '  that  this  moreover 
would  have  the  advantage  of  "  permitting  our  colonies  on 
the  conUnent  to  extend  themselves  without  dangei-  or 
molestation,"  thus  increasing  the  range  of  liritish  trade; 
that,  however,  such  a  colonial  (sxtension  ought  not  to  be  re- 
garded on  commercial  principles  alone,  for  "extent  of  ter- 
ritory and   a  number  of  subjects  are   matters  of  as  much 

I "  .\  full  iiiiil  fnii)  IiKiiiiry  into  tlio  Moritu  of  tho  Phuoo  :    with  Momn  Strictures  oo  the 
Spirit  of  Purty."    (Loudou.  17BH, ) 


404  1UTLI,ETIN  OK  THE  UNIVERSITY   OK  WISCONSIN. 

consideration  to  a  State  attentive  to  the  sources  of  real 
grandeur,  as  the  mere  advantage  of  traffic.  "  '  These  were 
the  motives  and  objects  of  the  peace  as  set  forth  in  a  House 
which  could  not  to  any  degree  have  been  influenced  in  its 
expression  by  the  fear  or  desire  of  the  publicity  given  by 
the  reporter;  and  thoy  were  endor.sed  by  a  vote  in  favor 
of  the  Treaty  of  31!)  to  (JS.  la  the  whole  series  of  Parlia- 
mentary debates  from  1700  to  1774  I  have  met  nothing  any 
more  fitted  to  support  the  idea  that  the  retention  of  Canada 
should  or  could  be  regarded  as  an  occasion  or  basis  for  an 
illiberal  and  restrictive  policy  toward  the  older  colonies. 
Finally  on  this  point  of  the  general  public  spirit  with  re- 
gard to  the  retention  of  French  Canada  it  should  be  noticed 
that  this  part  of  the  British  policy  has  escaj)cd  the  suspicion 
of  earlier  prominent  American  writers,  even  of  those  oi  a 
marked  bias.-  Bancroft  has  traced  carefully  the  genesis  of 
the  new  api)lications  of  the  colonial  system,  and  has  shown 
that  they  were  evident  some  time  before  the  conf[uest  of  Can- 
ada. With  regard,  however,  to  the  retention  of  that  country, 
he  says  that  England  "proudly  accejjted  the  counsels  of 
magnaminity.  .  .  .  Promising  herself  wealth  from  colonial 
trade,  she  was  occupied  by  the  thought  of  filling  the  wild- 
erness, instructing  it  with  the  products  of  her  intelligence, 
and  blessing  it  with  free  institutions."  '  Yet,  he  adds,  at. 
this  very  time  the  Board  of  Trade  was  intent  on  applying 
those  new  measures  which  for  many  years  it  had  looked  for- 
ward to. 

'  l'iirli<iniriit'iril  IfiKlur;/,  XV,  l'J71. 

"Tho  most  candid  ati<l  impressive  of  rocent  KukHxH  liistorians  o/  this  pericnl  is  doubt- 
less Mr.  Lecky.  His  conclusion  on  this  matter  is  tluit,  "  Tlie  nation  liad  learned  to  look 
with  jiriih'  and  s,vmi)Mtliy  upon  the  greater  Kn»?lan<l  which  was  »rrowinK  up  beyond  tiio 
Atlantic,  and  tliere  was  a  desire  wliicli  was  not  uURenerous  or  innoblo  to  renuive  at  any 
rate  tlie  one  obstacle  to  its  future  liappincfss  ;"  that  it  was  felt  "  that  tlii)  (^x()iilsioa  of 
the  French  from  Canada  was  essential,  not  only  to  the  fKilitical  and  commercial  pros- 
perity of  the  Nortliorn  colonies,  but  also  to  the  security  of  thoir  homes."  (Ill,  294.)  No- 
where in  his  l(>n»,'thy  discussion  of  the  wliole  colonial  difllculty  diMis  this  historian  Kive 
any  indication  of  such  a  C(  'pct ion  between  tlie  acquisition  of  ('anada  and  the  West 
and  Koneral  colonial  atfairs  as  mi^lit  be  expressed  in  the  idea  that  designs  a^ninst  the 
liberties  of  the  colonies  were  in  any  desree  based  on  the  possession  of  these  reRions. 

•  History  of  the  Unilal  Statis,  Epoch  I,  c.  16. 


COKKIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF   QUEIJEO,    1700-76.  405 

Such  is  the  degree  of  light  thrown  upon  change  of  policy 
or  the  probability  of  it,  by  an  examination  of  the  circum- 
stances attendant  on  the  securing  of  the  new  actiuisition  to 
which  the  asserted  change  has  been  attributed.     Let  us 
now  examine  the  early  measures  taken  with  regard  to  that 
acquisition.     These  are  embraced  in  the  Royal  Proclama- 
tion of  17U3,  over  which  so  much  conti'over.sy  has  raged, 
and  which,  as  before  .shown,  was  considered  by  many  at  the 
time,  and  has  been  held  up  since,  as  due,  not  to  the  motives 
which  it  expresses,  but  to  those  .special  anti-colonial  ends 
to  which  the  new  policy  was  supposed  to  be  addressing  it- 
self. In  this  document  the  preliminary,  "Whereas  we  have 
taken  into  our  Royal  Consideration  the  extensive  and  valu- 
able acfuisitions  in   America;    .    .    .     and  being  desirous 
that  all  our  loving  subjects,  as   well  of  our  Kingdoms,  as 
of  our  colonies  in  America,  may  avail  themselves  with  all 
convenient    speed   of   the   great  benefits    and   advantages 
which  must  accrue  therefrom  to  their  commerce,  manufac- 
tures and  navigation,"  is  followed  by  provisions  for  the  es- 
tablishment and  delimitation  of  the  four  new  governments 
of  Quebec,   East  Florida,    West  Florida  and  Grenada,  the 
general  direction  of  their  civil  government,  the  bestowal  of 
free  lands  upon  those  who  had  served  in  the  war,  and  the 
disposition  of  the  vast  regions  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the    bounds    of    the    old    colonies.       It    is    decreed    that, 
"  whereas  it  is  just  and  reasonable,  and    essential  to  our 
interests  and  the  security  of  our  colonies,  that  the  several 
nations  or  tribes  of  Indians  with  which  we  are  connected, 
and  who  live  under  our  protection,  should  not  be  molested 
or  disturbed  in  the  possession  of  such  parts  of  our  domin- 
ions or  territories,  as,  not  having  been  ceded  to  us,  are  re- 
served to  them,  or  any  of  them,  as  their  hunting-grounds, " 
these  regions  are  to  be  kept,   "for   the  present  and  until 
our  further  pleasure  be  known,"  free  from  white  encroach- 
ments of  any  kind,  all  persons  already  settled  therein  be- 
ing enjoined    to  remove  themselves.     Further,    "  whereas 


406  BUU.ETIN    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    WISCONSIN. 

great  frauds  and  abuses  have  been  committed  in  the  pur- 
chasing lands  of  the  Indians,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  our 
interests  and  the  great  dissatisfaction  of  the  said  Indians;  in 
order  therefore  to  prevent  such  irregularities  for  the  future, 
and  to  the  end  that  the  Indians  may  be  convinced  of  our  jus- 
tice and  determined  resolution  to  remove  all  reasonable 
causes  of  discontent, "  all  future  purchases  from  the  Indians 
are  to  be  made  through  the  Colonial  governments  alone. 
Trade  with  the  savages  is,  under  colonial  license,  to  be  free 
"to  all  our  subjects  whatever. " '  It  will  be  noticed  that  if  this 
document  is  to  be  regarded  as  specially  hostile  to  the  other 
colonies,  it  must  be  concluded  that  not  only  are  its  real 
reasons  not  avowed,  but  that  the  asserted  motives  of  ad- 
vantage to  "  all  our  loving  subjects,  as  well  of  our  King- 
doms as  of  our  colonies  in  America, "  and  of  "  the  security 
of  our  colonies,"  as  necessitating  more  consideration  for 
the  Indian,  are  directly  and  intentionally  misleading.  Even 
the  most  confirmed  supporter  of  this  view,  however,  would 
hardly  expect  to  have  the  pretence  kept  up  behind  the 
scenes,  and  would  probably  be  ready  to  maintain  that  the 
preliminary  and  accompanying  secret  discussions  and  cor- 
respondence would  reveal  evidence  of  the  duplicit3\  It 
will  be  striking  at  the  root  of  the  matter  to  proceed  to  the 
application  of  this  test. 

But  first  a  word  with  regard  to  that  professed  solicitude 
for  the  Indian  which  has  seemed  so  absurdly  inadequate  a 
reason  that  it  could  be  considered  only  the  cloak  of  sinister 
design.  Without  attempting  to  go  into  the  history  of 
British  treatment  of  the  savages,  (an  honorable  one,  it  is 
usually  admitted),  it  will  be  weP  to  note  the  general  atti- 
tude of  the  immediately  preceding  years  and  the  relations 
with  the  Indians  which  existed  at  the  moment.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  rest  the  British  case  here  wholly  or  mainly  on 

1  This  Proclamation  has  been  several  times  printed.  See  Houston.  Canadian  C'onsli- 
iutionnl  Documents,  pp.  67-73;  Franklin,  Works,  V,  75  (Bigelow  ed.) ;  Kingsford,  HUt. 
of  Can.,  V,  142-5 ;  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  46. 


COFFIN — THE   I'KOVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-7G.  407 

philanthropic  grounds;  the  student  of  the  period  knows 
well  that  with  the  word  "Indian"  must  be  read  the  addi- 
tional term  "Indian  trade,"  and  that  with  this  addition  the 
Indian  question  assumed  an  important  place  in  the  general 
colonial  trade  system.  The  fur  trade  had  long  been  one  of 
the  chief  bones  of  contention  between  the  English  and  the 
French;  it  had  been  the  mainstay  of  the  French  govern- 
ment in  Canada,  and  it  was  natural  that  now,  when  French 
rivalry  had  just  been  removed  and  Canada  had  become  a 
British  province,  it  should  assume  a  much  greater  and  in- 
deed disproportionate  place  in  the  official  and  public  mind. 
It  should  be  noticed  that  this  trade  was  regarded  as  pecul- 
iarly a  British  one,  (in  contradistinction  to  colonial),  and 
as  one  of  the  most  important  elements  in  the  manufacturing 
monopoly  of  the  mother  country.'  No  attempt  is  being 
made  here  to  defend  the  general  commercial  or  colonial 
system  of  Great  Britain  at  this  time;  I  simply  wish  to  show 
that  the  action  of  the  British  government  in  regard  to  the 
Indians  and  the  West  was  only,  in  the  main,  an  application 
of  that  system,  and  does  not  require  the  Mssumption  of 
any  special  change  of  policy  or  any  new  lines  of  hos- 
tility with  regard  to  the  colonies.  The  slightest  examina- 
tion will  show  the  vast  importance  attached  to  this  matter 
throughout  the  period  by  the  Imperial  authorities,  and  the 
amount  of   care   that  was  given  to   its  regulation.'      But 

I  See  Sir  William  Johnson  to  Lords  of  Trade,  May  17,  1759,  (N.  Y.  Col.  Documents,  VII, 
5575) ;  he  lays  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  the  trade  and  on  the  fact  that  it  was 
carried  on  wholly  by  the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain,  all  tlie  i)roduce  bcinK  ex- 
ported there.  In  1766  Franklin  pointed  out  that  the  traiie  was  wholly  British,  not  col- 
onial.    ( ir«rA'.?,  Ill,  429,  Bipelowed.) 

'^When  in  1766  Shelbonrne,  Secretary  of  State,  issued  general  directions  as  to  the 
policy  of  the  Imperial  trovernment  in  American  affairs  and  the  points  to  which  Amer- 
ican officials  were  to  pive  si>ecial  attention,  the  first  of  the  three  divisions  laid  down  was 
theraanaBeraent  of  the  Indians  and  of  thecommerce  with  them.  (Cal.  Home  Office  Papers 
1766-9,  No.  348.)  And  in  1775  the  same  statesman  used  in  tlie  House  of  Lords  the  follow- 
inK  language:  "The  |)eltry  or  skin  trade  is  a  matter  which  I  presume  to  affirm  is  of  the 
last  importance  to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  colonies  and  this  country.  The  regu- 
lation of  this  business  has  cost  His  Majesty's  ministers  more  time  and  trouble  than  any 
one  matter  I  know  of."  (Pari.  Hint.,  XVIII,  671).  For  imiwrtant  aspects  of  the  trade 
see  also,  Turner,  ImUan  Trade  in  Wisconsin,  and  Moore,  in  JUag.  Am.  History,  Sept., 
1892. 


408  lurLr.ETiN  op  the  university  of  Wisconsin, 

apart  from  this  there  was  another  side  to  the  matter,  of 
special  colonial  importance, —  the  necessity'in  regard  to 
the  security  of  the  colonies  of  the  maintenance  of  general 
amicable  rolatiocs  with  the  Indians.  The  two  aspects  are 
indeed  not  to  be  separated  in  actual  fact;  for  it  will  be 
readily  seen  that  the  general  relations  with  the  Indians 
were  closely  and  inextricably  bound  up  with  the  trade, 
and  that  anything  which  affected  either  one  was  likely 
to  have  the   most  essential  bearing  on  the  other. 

The  rivalry  between  English  and  French  for  the  alliance 
of  the  Indians  was  not  over  with  the  peace;  throughout  the 
whole  period  down  to  the  Revolution  the  home  government 
was  justly  apprehensive  of  tampering  with  the  Indians  on 
the  part  of  the  French  and  Spanish  traders  from  Louisiana.' 
To  considerations  as  to  dangers  to  the  older  colonies  from 
this  quarter  was  added  the  natural  apprehension  that 
French  intrigues  among  the  savages  would  be  directed  to- 
ward the  recovery  of  Canada.  Those  best  acquainted  with 
the  tribes  had  given  warning  even  before  the  end  of  the 
war  of  the  deej)  dissatisfaction  and  unrest  even  among  the 
allied  ones;  the  warning  was  justified  and  all  the  fears  of 
the  government  confirmed  by  the  great  Pontiac  outbreak 
in  the  spring  of  1763.  This  was  at  its  height  in  June  of 
that  year,  exposing  the  colonies  to  ravage  and  danger  such 
as  they  had  never  before  experienced;  it  is  evident  that  it 
might  well  have  had  a  decided  influence  with  regard  to  the 
Proclamation  of  the  following  October.  All  the  profes- 
sions of  concern  for  the  interests  and  contentment  of  the 
Indians  which  that  document  contains  have  therefore  every 
probability  of  sincerity;  there  is  no  reasonable  ground  for 
surprise  at  the  stress  laid  on  this  matter. 

But  that  the  measures  of  the  Proclamation  with  regard 
to  the  Western  country   had  long  been  in  contemplation, 

1  See  HillsborouKh  to  Cnrleton,  Nov.  4,  iiB9.  (Cau.  Arch.,  Q.  6,  p.  121.)  This  danger 
would  of  course  increase  with  any  lessening  of  or  impediment  to  the  trade  from  the 
British  side. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC.    17G0-7(».  409 

and  that  the  treatment  of  the  Indian  and  his  alleged  griev- 
ances in  it  can  be  ascribed  neither  to  the  Pontiac  outbreak 
nor  to  any  general  change  of  policy  in  connection  with  the 
acquisition  of  Canada,  is  conclusively  shown  by  the  fact 
that  steps  of  this  kind  had  been  contemplated,  or  seriously 
debated,  from  at  least  the  very  beginning  of  the  war. 
March  15,  175i),  the  Board  of  Trade  had  enjoined  on  the 
New  York  government  to  take  measures  for  granting  full 
satisfaction  to  the  Indians  for  the  white  encroachment  of 
which  they  complained,  and  which  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pal causes  of  the  decline  of  British  interest  among  them.' 
During  the  war  the  French  made  effectual  use  of  these  en- 
croachments in  arousing  the  fears  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
British  government  was  obliged  to  strain  every  nerve  to 
pacify  them.  Such  efforts  were,  however,  largely  thwarted 
through  the  interested  action  of  the  Colonial  authorities, 
and  there  seems  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  alleged 
land  sales  by  the  Indians  were  frequently  obtained  by 
fraud.  This  certainly  was  the  firm  conviction  both  of  the 
home  government  and  its  colonial  representatives,  and  it 
was  this  conviction  that  lead  to  the  measure  of  1763  for 
making  such  sales  a  public  and  not  private  matter.  In 
1759  Sir  William  Johnson  strongly  represents  to  the  Board 
the  discontent  of  the  Indians,  and  the  damage  thereby  done 
to  the  Indian  trade ;  declaring  that  "  The  Indians  ought  to 
be  redressed  and  satisfied  in  all  their  reasonable  and  well- 
founded  complaints  of  enormous  and  unrighteously  ob- 
tained patents  of  their  lands."-  In  1761  the  legislature  of 
New  York  undertook  to  make  new  grants  in  the  ^  oigh- 
bourhood  of  Lake  George;  the  Board  of  Trade,  having  con- 
sidered the  matter,  reported  advei-sely  thereon  to  the  gov- 

'N.Y  Col  Documents,  VII.  77.  For  this  niul  most  of  tlip  other  references  down  to 
1761  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Kinssford,  who  has  clearly  represented  the  conditions  of  this 
mutter  during  these  years.  (JliKlor/i  of  Canailo,  V.,l:i'i-tt.)  It  is  to  be  not<!d  that  the 
letter  of  the  Board  to  Chief-Justice  DeLancy  of  N.  Y.,  in  1756,  refers  to  the  policy  the 
Board  was  then  urging  as  one  that  had  been  put  in  action  in  1699. 

'N.  Y.Col.  Document*,  VII.,  375. 


410  iti;i,i,KriN  OK  tiik  i/nivkhhitv  ok  wmconhin. 

ornmont  (Nov.  11,  17'il).  This  roport  njprosonU.'d  that  tho 
])V()\)()s*-xl  «,'raiit.s  wctj;  dangerous  to  th**  security  of  the 
(Mjlonios,  thccliiof  causoortii*!  fovuiav  hf>.stiiity  of  thr;  Indi- 
aris  liavin^'  h(M!n  "  th(!  (U'uolty  and  injuslicri  with  which  thoy 
had  \)('.(iu  lr(!at«;d  with  rcspjfct  to  llicir  huiitin;/  <<roiitids,  in 
opon  violation  of  thoso  soUunn  r-onjpacts  by  which  they  had 
yicldj'd  to  us  tho  Dominion  l)ut  not  the  property  of  those 
Lands;"  tliat  as  thoy  had  since  been  made  allies  by  partial 
relief,  and  now,  huvlnj?  actcfd  faithfully,  "  imj)ati«^ntly  wait 
for  full  rfidi-ess  and  i-eformation,"  '  uiidf.'r  these  circum- 
stances and  in  this  situati(jii  the  «;rantin^  of  lands  hitherto 
unsettled  and  (establish in<?  coloni(^s  upon  the  Fnjntiers  bo- 
fore  the  claims  of  tluj  Indians  are  asr-('rtain(!d  apfjears  to  be  a 
measure  of  the  most  dan^'erous  tendency.  It  was  accord- 
ingly recommend(!d  that  an  imm<;diate  stojj  should  bo  made 
to  tho  proposed  settlements  "  until  th(!  event  of  the  war  is  de- 
termined and  such  measures  taken  tlnjreupon  with  respect  to 
our  Indian  allies  as  shall  V>e  thought  expedient.  "'  This  re- 
port was  approved  by  th(;  King-in-Council  (Nov.  2'.'),  ITtll), 
and  instructions  for  colonial  oHicers  in  accordance  therewith 
w<!re  ordered  to  be  ])r(ipared.  Thes(;,  drawti  up  by  the  Hoard 
of  Trade,  appear  th<!  ffdiowing  Dec.  2.'  On  the  j^round  that 
th<!  "  i)eace  and  security  of  Oiir  Colonies  and  Plantations 
upon  the  Continent  of  North  America  does  greatly  depend 
upon  the  amity  and  alliance"  with  the  contiguous  Indians, 
and  that  this  amity  and  alliance  are  endangenid  through 
the  alleg(id  unjust  treatment  of  the  Indians  in  regai-d  to  their 
lands,  the  Imperial  government,  resolved  to  pi-otoct  the 
Indians  in  "th«ilr  just  Rights  and  Pos.sossions  and  to  keep 
inviolable  the  Treaties  and  Compacts  which  have  been  en- 
tered into  with  them,"  ordains  practically  the  same  measures 
as  were  taken  two  years  later  in  the  Proclamation  of  1703. 

IN.  V.  Col.  Docuim.titH,  VII.  iTi. 

'Ibid.,  VII.  S77,  '  Oriift  of  mi  IiiHtnictioii  for  t-lui  (iovurnoiM  of  .N'ovii  .Scol,i;i,  Nctw 
HaiiiiiMliirt!,  VirKJiiiit,  Nnvv  York,  Nortli  Ciiroliiiu,  Soiitli  (,'arolinn,  iiti<l  (icorKia,  forhid- 
dinx  tlihiii  to  Kruiit  liitiii's  or  iiinko  .^DttliKfuititH  wliicli  iiiny  iiitorfiiiit  with  tlm  ludiatiH 
hord«riin{  on  thi>.si)  (yoloiiiin."    AiJimroutly  sunt  out  (it  oncn. 


fJOKK'IN — TIIK    l-RflVINCE  OK  QtrKIIKO,    17<!()    7<5.  411 

Wo  .s<M!  tin  lifons  that  tho  action  in  1703  with  rof^ard 
to  \.\\c  VV<'st<!iT»  lands,  insldad  ol'  hoinj^  indicativ*!  f)f  a 
chan^<!  of  j)oli<-y  occasionod  by  tho  ac(|uisition  of  (Canada, 
was  moroly  tho  ro-onunciation  in  a  nion;  j^oniiral  and  im- 
portant form  of  th<!  principic.'s  whicli  had  hcc-n  acted  njjon 
at  a  tinic!  wIh^ii  it  was  still  hotly  (hihated  wluithcr  (Janada 
should  \)(:  rotaincid  at  all  or  not;  that  it  was  ind<!«!d  mcj-ely 
llio  loj^ic.al  follf^wiiif.'  u|»  of  opinions  which  arc  cvid(!n1ly  tho 
controlling  ones  at  Niast  as  <!arly  as  IT'iC).  Instcsad  of  thoir 
boinj^  (;vid(!nco,  or  j^roiind  for  reasonable  suspicion,  that 
the  s(dicitudo  with  r(!jj;ard  to  tli(!  Indians  was  in  whole  or 
part  assumiid  and  th(!  cloak  of  othor  motiv((S,  w(?  lind  that 
this  solicitud<!,  iWm  siiltish  conim(!rcial  nieuninj<  of  which 
is  sliown  abov<;),  had  be<!n  a  predominant  motive  from  tho 
Vj(!^innin«(  of  tho  war,  and  tliat  it  is  unmixed,  in  tho  most 
secret  and  confidential  transactions  of  tlu;  vf'J\<""n"'<-'Ht'. 
with  any  indication  of  ulterior  d(!sif^ns. 

Tho  above;  intjuiry  has  boon  into  tin;  ori^^ins  of  that  i)art 
of  tho  Proclamation  \vhir;ti  deals  ^en«!rally  with  the  dis- 
I)Ositi(jn  of  th(j  Wost.  With  nj^^ard  to  tho  limits  of  Canada 
a  somowhat  different  (jujjstion  is  prosont(!d.  For  in  this 
respect  the  l*roclamationdiff(!red essentially  from  tlioQuobec 
Act;  tho  former  continln;^  the  Province  to  a  very  narrow 
area,  and  tlie  latter  includinff  w'thin  it  tho  whole  sweep 
of  tho  West  between  the  Ohio  and  tho  Mississippi.  The 
idea  of  a  continuity  of  policy  between  the  two  measures, 
on  th(i  j)art  of  those  who  rej^ard  both  as  parts  of  the  same 
now  hostility  which  had  boon  act<!d  on  since  tho  con(|uest 
of  Canada,  rests  on  tlie  assumption  that  the  prohibition  of 
settlement  and  the  contirmation  of  Indian  possession  were 
only  preliminary  either  to  the  erection  of  new  governments 
exclusive  of  the  other  colonies,  oi-  to  that  incorporation 
with  Quolxic  which  was  accomplished  in  1774.  I  take  the 
same  view  as  to  continuity  of  policy;  with  the  difference 
that  I  ref^ard  both  measures  simjily  as  parts  of  the 
old    colonial    system    that    had    been    applied   practically 


412  HUI,I-ETIN    (»F    TIIK    LNIVKHHITV    (iK    WISCONHIN. 

throupliout  tho  century.  It  will  ho  necessary  th«'reforn 
to  tracf!  carofully  this  sid<!  of  th(!  iriuttcr,  with  the  jiur- 
pose  of  f)f)po.sin^  hrUh  th<!  vi(!W  notfsd  iihove,  arid  that  older 
one  which  sees  no  conn<jctiori  on  this  point  hetween  the 
measures,  hut  re^^^ards  thcf  Quebec  Act  as  especially  called 
forth  by  the  ditliculties  with  tFie  older  colonies  at  and  just 
before  the  time  of  its  appcsarance. 

And  first  it  should  be  noted  that  Canada,  as  ceded  to  Kn^- 
hmd  by  Franc(!  in  l?*);},  was  assigned  no  definite  limits. 
The  term  used  in  the  treaty  of  Paris'  is  "(Canada  with  all 
its  dejjendencies, "  and  the  boundary  fixed  betwecin  British 
and  P^'ench  torritf)ry  in  Xortli  AtiKsrica  was,  so  far  as  (Jan- 
ada  could  be  affectod,  simply  the  iMississijjpi  liiver.  Nor 
does  any  further  indication  of  limits  seem  to  have  b(!en 
given  in  any  way  by  tho  French;  for  in  a  letter  published 
shortly  after  the  conf|uest-'  the  Marfpiis  do  Vaudreuil,  (the 
French  governor  who  had  signed  the  capitulation),  states 
that  he  had  "traced  out  no  limits  whatev(!r  "  for  the  sur- 
rend(!red  territory,  fieneral  Murray  in  his  ofticial  report 
of  1762,  says  that  it  is  "  imj)Ossibl(}  to  ascertain  exactly  what 
part  of  North  America  the  Frcsnch  styled  Canada,  no  chart 
or  map  whatever  having  fallen  into  our  hands,  or  ])ublic 
record  of  any  kind  to  show  what  they  understood  V>y  it." 
Hence  the  British  Government  might  consider  its(!lf  to  have 
a  comparatively  fi-ee  hand  in  the  defining  of  the  new  Pro- 
vince, liaving  regard  to  the  fixed  boundaries  and  well-es- 
tablished claims  of  the  adjacent  Colonies, '  to  the  Mississippi 


'  ArMcl(!H  IV,  V,  VII.    (f 'liiilmcir'K  Trniti.-^,  Lotidon,  HflOj. 

"Aiinmil  KoKihtitr,  ITCl,  )«.  'Ml. 

"Tlir  (IcKnin  to  wliicli  tlii'HO  ]nt.UT  wcrn  liki-ly  to  be  coiihiili^rcd  nn  roKtrict.iv(i  (iiay  ho 
iiifcrrid  tniit  tin;  followiiix  HtafiiiriMiit  of  ii  niccrit  AriKiriciiri  tcxf-book  with  riiUiiri)  to 
early  cliartor claims  in  th<!  VVci.st.  "TIiohu  clinrti^rH  hud  all  la|i.si:d,  and  tint  only  colonioit 
in  17.')0  of  U'liicli  tli<^  cliartor  liinitH  n-acliuii  boyoud  th«  Ajipalachian  niountninH  were 
Conni^rticnt  and  I'onnHylvania."  <IIart,  Furmoliini  of  llu-  I'liiaii,  p.  It.)  liooHovolt 
(Wbniiiiij  iij  III''  W'l'nl,  I,  :n),  aft^if  KtatinK  that  thc^  claiinn  of  fin;  coloniiiH  in  tin!  WoHt 
were  hc-cdod  by  the  Hritinh  no  inoro  than  by  thi'  French,  ndds  in  roKardn  to  thoso  cluiuiH, 
"The  rncrf  Htatorncnt  of  thii  factH  Ih  onoUKh  to  hIiow  tho  intriiiBic  worth  Iomhuohb  of  tho 
titlpn."  WitiHor  (The  Mi'niKMiniii  ll<tHiii,\\.  447;,  haw  p<)int<'.d  out  that  thr- druwinK  by 
tho  treaty  of  17Wof  tho  MiMHiKKipiji  an  a  line  of  (icmarcution  between  the  EuKlibh  and  the 


C(»KKIN — THE   l'R<»VIN(  K  «»K  gCEHt.C,    17<IO-7(],  413 

as  thf  Kuhlern  boundary  of  Louisiana,  and  to  the  somewhat 
indefinit<f  regions  ^'ranted  to  the  Hudson  Hay  Company.' 
But  how  this  fre(!(h)m  ini^ht  )>n  alTcc^lcd  hy  [jopular  opinion 
as  to  the  le^'itimate  limits  of  the  n(fW  l'rovinc«!,  will  l)e 
seen  fiom  the  fact  that  Canada  had  jtlwiiys  been  claimed 
by  tlie  French  to  (.'xtond  over  almost  the  whoh?  extent  of 
the  vast  territory  throuj^h  which  \w.r  tiaders  liad  (jarrifsd 
on  the  fur-tradt.',  ■  and  that  the  non-inclusion  of  these  re^^ions 
down  till  the  Qu«!bec  Act  was  a  prominent  subject  of  com- 
plaint amonj/C  'iH  <'lasses  of  the  inhabitants.' 

V(!ry  soon  after  the  treaty  the  liiitish  (ioveru.iient  pro- 
ceeded to  consider  the  difficult  (luestlori  of  the  dispf)sition 
of  the  outlying'  re^'irjns  in  America.  'J'h<!  Hoard  of  Trade 
havinj?  recommended  (in  a  ren(!wal  of  the  considerations  of 
1701,  pointed  out  above),  that  the  Western  terril'jry  outside 

Frimcli,  iiii'iiiit  "  It  ilihtiiiCt  aliiiniloiiitii'iil  iiihim  tin-  imrl  of  I  lie  llr'iti«li  i^iivuriiiin'rit  of  thit 
(ilil  M'it-t«>-Niia  clitiriihcif  tli<>  mirl.v  Kiitrlixli  chiirlcrH."  Yi-f  thi"-i'  hurl  Imm-m  thn  niily  hiiHiH 
of  tlic  Wchlcni  rliiiiii>  <if  tlid  coIoMicu ;  it  roiiM  liiinllv  (>(•  i-x|i(iclcil  tljiit  Ori'iif  firitairi 
would  fuel  IhiiiihI  t4i  imy  any  fiirtlii-r  allciitioti  to  tlii^iii.  AimI  not  'A'itli  any  inorit  reason 
ciiti  it  ^Mt  c<tiit4iiiil<i(l  Mint  tint  iliNri'UMrfl  of  ttioiii  in  lalt-r  rrii>iiNiintH  Fhowcl  iitiy  xiH-ciul 
hostility  or  iiijiiHticct.  I  atii  cotiriTiii-il  Imifc  liownvcr  only  with  flin  (U'urnD  U>  wliicli  tlio 
home  uovKrnnii'nt  iniKlit  connidiT  itH  action  in  tlif  Mi'ttlcrrwiit of  tlii>  new  ar.'iiiiHitioMH 
to  Ix-  ini|H'(lcil  hy  tin-  oM  wraiilH.  That  thi'  vii^w  a"  to  the  cntiri'  la;isc  of  thi-  charter 
riKhty  wa^coii-^istcntly  niaintalni'd  hy  the  Irn|i<-rlal  authoriticH,  will  he  nc-rn  from  an  <'X- 
limiriHtion  <if  the  ni>Kotiatir)nM  for  the  trcalyof  iMiace  in  IVK).  < /li/).  Curr.nf  llir  Itiinlu- 
linn;  ilinfdali',  iihl  .\iirllniint,  pp.  17H  iti.  There  Ik  no  record  apparently  of  any  ob- 
jection irmdo  hy  Virginia  to  tlat  propoHed  WaljHile  or  Van<lalia  cesnion  (ITIH  T.'i;  on  tliii 
(,'roiind  of  her  chart^irclaitriH.     (Mono«rii|ih  hy  .Mr.  Ahlen,  elFewhere  referred  to;. 

I  Thew^  latt/'r  were  not.  definitely  ascertained  till  the  Itniwrial  Act  <if  1H81I,  which  nettleil 
the  nortlKtrn  )M>undary  of  the  Province  o'Ontario.—  Houston,  Ctiii'i'litin  tunHtihillnnnl 
liiiiiiiinnlx,  p.  t). 

"The  adflre-Hof  thankn  for  the  Ciuehitv-  Act  from  the  French  f'anad  latin  of  Montreal,  1774, 
rafnrH  to  it  an  hnvinx  ronUired  tlio  I'roviiic<t  to"  him*  iincieniiof  lirnit<iH." 

'  S<ie  eKiMtcially  French  and  KiikIikIi  imtitionH  and  ineinorialH  of  mHand  1774.  ff'an. 
Arch.,  Q.  it,  10.)  AImi  in  MnxiriK.  AIho  (,'nrleton  to  Shelhourne  .January  M,  1707,  (Can. 
Arch.,y.  4,p.  WJJ  and  Dartmouth  toCarleton  DecemlMtr  10,  1774.  (Ihi(l.,(;.  10,  p.  I'i'il.Oani- 
«au  echiMiM  tliDHtiComphiintwin  tlieaHMertion  that"  U'uhord  I'Antfleterre  voulut  repudior 
tout  a;  (|iii  Cttait  FrancaiH  etenh^ver  iiKsini)  hux  liubitantH  Ion  HilvantaKeH  natiinilH  (|u'of- 
frait  ^i  leuTH  enfanth  I'etendue  du  iiayn."  Ulisl.  Cnn.,  II,  ilMS).)  With  regard  tx»  the  nar- 
rowing of  thn  I'rovince  in  WiA,  it  may  iMtrhapH  Im;  HUpixiHed  that  tlie  (ioverninent  wuh  iu- 
flutnc<;(l  by  Nome  idea  of  coiiHiKt^jncy  in  reK»rd  txi  itH  own  piiHt  attitude  in  th(i  diHput4tH 
with  the  Froncli  ovur  houndaricK  in  North  Ainurica,  When  tho  Kfttat  extenKiou  of  the 
Quebec  Act  waH  under  debate  tho  OppoHitiuu  taunted  the  adiuiniHtration  with  Uie 
chanKe  of  bane  on  thiK  iioint,  aHkiuK  what  would  be  tho  mhuU  tihould  the  Fruucb  ever 
b«  iu  a  pouitiuu  to  reclaim  Cauada. 


Ul  BULLETIN    OK   THE    UNIVEBSITV    OK    WISCONSIN. 

of  Canada  (a  terra  thoy  use  in  a  restricted  but  indoflnite 
sense),  and  the  otlier  colonies  should  not  be  subject  to 
grants  of  land  or  to  settlement,  the  Kin^  communicates 
his  approbation  of  this  suggestion,  but  adds  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  put  the  region  under  some  civil  govern- 
ment, in  order  that  it  might  not  soem  to  bo  abandoned  or 
become  a  refuge  for  malefactors  ; '  and  that  it  would  prob- 
ably be  best  to  attach  it  to  the  Government  of  Quebec.  In 
reply  August  5,  1763,'  the  Board  agrees  that  a  government 
is  necessary,  but  objects  to  its  being  that  of  any  one  exist- 
ing province,  especially  of  Quebec,  for  three  reasons: — (1) 
that  if  included  within  the  limits  of  Canada  the  Indians 
might  thereby  conclude  that  the  Englisli  title  to  the  coun- 
try came  only  from  the  late  French  cession,  (2)  that  the 
annexing  of  it  to  any  one  province  would  give  that  prov- 
ince an  undue  advantage  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  (3)  that 
as  government  in  that  region  could  probably  be  carried  on 
only  with  the  aid  of  the  greater  part  of  the  military  forces 
in  America,  its  annexation  to  Quebec  would  require,  to  pre- 
vent constant  disputes  between  the  civil  and  military  au- 
thorities, that  the  Governor  of  Canada  should  be  virtually 
Commander-in-Chief.'  Accordingly  the  Board  suggests  in- 
stead that  the  region  should  be  governed  by  the  Com- 
mander-in  Chief  under  his  military  commission,  and  that 
pending  the  receipt  of  information  necessary  to  the  draw- 
ing up  of  his  instructions,  a  Proclamation  should  be  issued 
declaring  the  territory  reserved  for  trade  and  the  Indians. 
These  recommendations  were  adopted,  and  with  the  others 
noted  above  formed  the  basis  of  the  Proclamation  of  Oct.  7, 
following.  This,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  Quebec  under  this 
head,   begins  by  clearly   defining  the  limits  of  the    new 

•  See  last  clauso  of  tho  I'roclamatioii. 

'Can.  Arch..  Q.  1,  p.  110. 

•Tills  last  obJKCtiou  should  p«trha|)s  be  t'Si)ociallj'  noted, in  considorini;  whotlier  aims 
hostile  to  the  civil  rights  uf  the  other  colonies  wont  biuuct  entertained  on  the  basis  of 
the  acquisition  of  Canada.  If  so,  it  could  hardly  seem  objectionable  that  the  (Jovernor 
of  Canada  should  be  Commander-in-Chief. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINOK   OP  QUKBEC,    17<I(»    7(1.  H  Tj 

"  GoN'ornniGut  of  Quebec,  "  reducing  it  to  a  rectangular  dis- 
trict of  not  more  than  1()(),0()()  square  miles  extending  along 
both  sides  of  the  middle  St.  Lawrence  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  St.  John  to  the  point  where  th(!  St.  Lawrence  was 
intersected  l)y  the  4r)th  degree  of  N.  Latitude.  As  thus  fixed 
the  boundaries  remained  till  the  Quebec  Act,  the  Province 
so  constituted  forming  but  a  small  part  of  the  region  over 
which  the  Frencli  Government  in  Canada  had  claimed 
sovereignty.  The  eastern  portion  cut  off  was  placed  under 
the  Government  of  Newfoundland. 

There  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  doubting  that  on  this 
point  as  op  the  others  the  Proclamation  is  what  it  appears 
to  be,  and  that  the  motives  which  dictated  it  are  to  be 
fully  gathered  from  the  foregoing  repre.sentations  of  the 
Board  of  Trade.  That  the  measures  referring  directly  to 
Quebec  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  unfriendly  to  the 
colonies  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  arose  partly  from 
a  desire  to  prevent  Quebec  from  hav'.ng  an  undue  advan- 
tage in  the  Indian  furtrade.  It  was  not  regarded  as  a 
complete  settlement,  and  was  intended  to  be  supplemented 
by  steps  which  should  i)roperly  provide  for  the  temporary 
j^overnment  of  the  region.  But  as  it  proved,  neither  time 
nor  energy  was  available  till  1774  for  further  arrangement, 
and  even  the  instructions  to  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
spoken  of  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  seem,  never  to  have  been 
issued.'  On  the  eve  of  the  passing  of  the  Quebec  Act, 
(long  after  its  main  features  had  been  decided  upon),  Dart- 
mouth, then  Secretary  of  State,  writes  to  Lt.  Gov. 
Cramaht'  that  "  there  is  no  longer  any  hope  of  perfecting 
that  plan  of  policy  in  respect  to  the  interior  country 
which  was  in  contemplation  when  the  Proclamation  of  1763 

i  Knox  {Junticf  il-  Pol ic//  0/ the  Qiiehi'c  Act,  Lond.  1774),  states  in  an  authoritative 
manner  that  it  had  been  intended  to  defray  the  expense  of  tlie  system  contemplated  by 
a  tax  on  the  Indian  trade,  and  that  the  plan  was  abandoned  because  it  was  not  judaod  ex- 
pedient to  lay  tliis  tax,  wliile  the  American  budget  was  already  sufficiently  burdened. 
See  also  Franklin,  \rorks,  V.  'JH. 


41(3  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OP   WISCONSIN. 

•was  issued. " '  The  details  of  the  jilan,  (I'eferred  to  as  drawn 
up  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1704),  we  learn  from  the  instruc- 
tions to  Carleton  of  1775,-  it  bo^ng  incorporated  therein  as 
some  guide  in  his  future  dealings  with  the  Indian  trade. 
The  main  feature  is  the  institution  of  a  semi-military 
government,  (i.  e.  by  civil  officials  relying  on  the  military 
for  constant  support),  administered  in  a  summary  manner 
b\'  a  superintendent  and  deputies;  government  having 
almost  for  its  sole  object  the  regulation  of  the  fur-trade, 
and  no  consciousness  being  shown  of  the  existence  in  the 
region  of  any  permanent  white  settlers.  The  Superin- 
tendent was  indeed  appointed;  but  being  left  without  suffi- 
cient power  the  result  was  unsatisfactory,  and  he  was 
superseded  by  176f:<,  each  province  then  having  authority  to 
frame  regulations  for  its  own  traders.'  The  fur  trade, 
subject  from  the  want  of  effective  government  to  a  variety 
of  injurious  impediments,  became  every  year  more  and 
more  disorganized  and  unproductive,  and  complaints  as  to 
the  insecurity  of  life  and  property  throughout  the  trading 
grounds  increased  every  day  in  volume  and  vehemence. 
It  was  soon  seen  that  some  more  effective  measures  must 
be  taken  for  the  control  of  the  region.  Dartmouth  in  the 
letter  just  quoted,  after  speaking  of  the  difficulty  of  carry- 
ing out  the  plan  of  policy  at  first  intended,  proceeds: — 
"Many  circumstances  with  regard  to  the  inhabitancy  of 
parts  of  that  country  were  then  unknown,  and  there  are  a 
variety  of  other  considerations  that  do,  at  least  in  my 
judgment,  induce  a  doubt  both  of  the  justice  and  pro- 
priety of  restraining  the  colony  to  the  narrow  limits 
prescribed  in  that  Proclamation. "  *  The  main  "circum- 
stance"  here  spoken  of  was  probably  the  discovery  that 
white  settlers  had  spread  themselves  too  widely  and  fixed 

I  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  9,  p.  Ihl. 
'Can.  Arch.,  luxtruclious,  17IS.1-S7. 

5  HiUsborouRh  to  Carloton,  June  11,  1768  (Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  .Vl,  p.  419).    Franklin's  letters 
show  the  expense  of  the  system  as  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  chanxe. 
*  See  also  same  to  Carleton  Dec.  10, 1774.    (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  10,  p.  12:).) 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-76.        417 

themselves  too  firmly  throup^hout  the  region  to  make  it 
possible  to  eject  them  (as  was  ordered  by  the  Proclama- 
tion of  1703),  or  to  prevent  their  further  increase.'  Every 
year  only  multiplied  the  evidence  that  the  Western  country 
was  fast  and  irretrievably  losing  its  character  as  a  mere 
Indian  hunting-ground,  and  that  settled  civil  government 
could  not  long  be  delayed.- 

As  to  the  dangerous  and  almost  anarchial  state  of  things 
throughout  the  West  during  the  whole  of  this  period  we 
have  abundant  evidence.  The  official  reports  are  full  of 
complaints  of  the  unsettled  and  inadequate  state  of  gov- 
ernment and  of  the  impossibility  of  carrying  on  the  fur- 
trade  without  constant  friction  and  disorder.'  I  cannot 
better  state  the  situation  than  by  quoting  from  the  well- 
expressed  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Quebec  Council, 
April  24,  1769,*  drawn  up  as  the  result  of  an  investigation 
called  forth  by  complaints  of  the  traders.'  This  was  after 
all  pretence  of  control  through  a  general  superintendent 
had  been  withdrawn  and  each  Province  had  been  given 
power  to  frame  regulations  for  its  own  traders.  It  begins 
by  representing  the  great  inconvenience  and  injury  of  the 
"  situation  and  present  condition  of  the  places  where  this 
trade  is  carried  on,  and  in  which  all  regulations,  whether 
made  by  this  or  any  other  Province,  must  of  consequence 
have  their  operative  influence.  They  are  at  present,  as  we 
understand,  the  subject  of  no  civil  jurisdiction  whatever, 
without  any  internal  principles  of  government  within  them- 

>  Seo  Murray  to  Halifax  March  9,  17(54,  whore  he  speaks  of  these  settlements  as  "  cor- 
tamly  noble  ones."  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  7f<.)  See  also  Houston,  ('«)i.  Coiml.  Doc,  p.  108, 
note  2. 

''  See  petition  for  such  a  Roverninont,  from  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois,  June  27,  1773. 
Cat.  Hulfl.  Coll.,  p. 'lOi.  Also  Dartmouth  to  (lage  concerninff  same,  /hid.,  p.  2;!2.  This 
was  an  old  French  settlement ;  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  EnKlish  settlors  would  be 
less  forward  in  opposition  to  military  Kovernmont. 

'Advocate-General  Marriott  asserted  in  1774  that  for  want  of  a  Rood  Rovornment since 
the  Conquest,  the  trade  was  then  only  one-third  of  what  it  had  been  under  the  French. 
Coilr  of  La  W.I. 

<Can.  Arch.,Q.  6,  p.  83. 

'For  the.se  complains  .see  3/;*i,it?ej  of  the  Quebec  Council,  Jan.  15  and  March  2,  1788. 
They  were  directed  mainly  against  the  Provincial  regulations  then  in  being. 


418  BULLETIN    OP    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

selves,  nor  annexed  for  the  purposes  of  civil  government 
to  any  Province  which  has;  so  that  we  are  at  a  loss  to  con- 
ceive how  any  province  in  particular  or  all  the  separate  juris- 
dictions in  America  combined,  can  form  a  system.  .  .  . 
and  give  it  binding  effect  upon  persons  casually  residing  in  a 
country  not  liable  to  receive  a  law  from  them,  or  enforce 
obedience  to  it  when  formed. "  The  inevitable  result  of  the 
situation  here  outlined  is  briefly  referred  to  by  Dartmouth 
in  a  letter  to  Gen.  Gage,  of  March  3,  1773,  in  which  the 
latter  is  ordered  to  bring  to  England  every  thing  required 
to  explain  "  as  well  the  causes  as  the  effects  of  those  abuses 
and  disorders  which  in  some  of  your  former  dispatches  you 
say  had  prevailed  to  a  great  degree  of  enormity  in  that 
country."'  The  report  of  the  Quebec  Council  proceeds  to 
maintain  that  matters  could  not  be  remedied  without  Imper- 
ial action  in  the  annexing  of  the  whole  of  the  trade  region 
to  some  one  of  the  existing  civil  governments,  and  con- 
tends that  no  plan  of  concerted  colonial  action,  (such  as 
New  York  shortly  after  proposed),  could  be  satisfactory. 
There  were  the  usual  difficulties  of  the  time  in  regard  to 
such  co-operation;  but  over  and  above  these,  it  was  made 
almost  impossible  by  the  fact  that  Quebec,  the  province 
most  concerned,  was  in  a  radically  different  governmental 
and  industrial  position  from  its  neighbors.  In  1771  New 
York  proposed  a  scheme  of  joint  action  by  Pennsylvania, 
Quebec,  and  itself,  which  Quebec  refused  to  accede  to;  Lt. 
Gov.  Cramahi'  writing  home  on  the  subject,  Oct.  81,  1771, 
that  "  the  interest  of  the  two  Provinces  [Quebec  and  New 
York]  differ  too  widely  to  expect  they  will  ever  perfectly 
agree  upon  regulations. "  - 

1  Cal.  HaUl.  Coll,,  p.  232. 

'■•Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  82.  This  Li  the  occasion  of  the  significant  interference  of  Hills- 
borouRh  against  American  Conpressex  which  liave  I  spoken  of  above  (p.IiSO.)  Cramalifi, 
though  recognizing  earlier  the  peculiar  interests  of  Quebec,  seems  to  have  been  willmir 
at  first,  through  despair  of  other  remedies,  to  join  in  discussing  common  measures. 
.Tanuary,  1772,  we  find  the  Quebec  Council  in  receipt  of  a  more  definite  proposal  for  joint 
action  from  New  York,  and  rejecting  the  same  on  the  grounds,  (1),  that  the  Quebec  govern- 
ment had  no  authority  to  take  the  financial  measures  involved,  and  (2),  that  the  steps 


COFFIN — THE   TROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-76.  419 

It  will  then  be  seen  that  it  might  well  appear  to  the 
home  administration  that  no  other  step  was  open  than  the 
annexing  of  the  territory  to  some  existing  civil  govern- 
ment. To  have  kept  it  separate  would  have  meant  merely 
the  continuance  of  a  military  or  semi-military  control,  sure 
to  be  productive  of  even  greater  friction  with  the  other 
Provinces  and  their  traders,  of  increasing  damage  to  the 
trade,  and  of  more  serious  discontent  on  the  part  of  the 
various  small  settled  communities.  And  having  reached 
this  conclusion  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  the  Imperial 
authorities  should  choose  for  this  purpose  the  Province 
with  which  the  region  had  been  earliest  and  most  closely 
associated,  and  to  which  it  was  believed  by  so  many  to  be- 
long,—  that  of  Quebec'  The  report  of  the  Quebec  Council 
quoted  above,  had  been  transmitted  home;  its  main  con- 
clusion was  the  setting  forth  with  considerable  force  the 
preeminent  claims  of  Quebec  to  this  acquisition.  What- 
ever influence  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  other  Provinces 
exerted  in  this  regard,  we  meet  no  trace  of  such  influence 
in  the  confidential  communications  between  the  British  and 
Canadian  authorities.  We  have  no  reason  to  suspect  the 
candour  of  Dartmouth  in  the  letter  above  quoted,  addressed 
as  it  was  in  the  regular  course  of  private  correspondence 

proposed  would  be  dctrimi  iitnl  to  the  Pro>  'ncial  trade.  We  have  here  mainly  no  doubt 
jealousy  of  tlie  more  powerful  neiph'oor  and  ■  r>prehonsion  at  the  inroads  slie  was  makinR 
in  a  branch  of  trade  which  had  so  long  been  Quebec's  chief  stay.  Apart  from  tlie  prohi- 
bition of  the  Minister,  (which  it  is  noteworthy,  is  not  referred  to),  the  Queboc  Govern- 
ment had  probably  confidence  that  the  old  advantages  would  soon  bo  restored  to  the 
Province  by  IniiH'rial  action.  No  further  intercourse  with  the  other  colonies  appears 
on  the  subject  before  the  Quebec  Act.  How  far  the  bearing  on  this  matter  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Quebec  Act  was  instrumental  in  affecting  the  Revolutionary  attitude  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  es  rousinp  their  commercial  anger  and  jealousy,  would 
probably  bo  worth  a  closer  investigation.  At  least  we  have  here  no  inconsiderable  e'e- 
ment  in  the  general  and  profound  dislike  v'.  the  measure  among  the  older  Northern 
colonies.  See  the  commercial  asj;)ect  of  the  Rcinoustrancc of  the  N.  Y.  Legislature,  March 
25,  n75.    (Pari.  Hiat.,  XVIII,  650. ,i 

•  To  attach  it  to  any  one  other  Province  would  be  objectionable  (we  may  reasonably 
assume  the  authorities  to  have  felt),  because  of  the  various  conflicting  colonial  claims 
in  the  West,  sure  to  be  aroused  to  the  greatest  activity  by  such  a  measure.  Whereas 
theGovemment  could,  consistently  with  the  Treaty,  disregard  all,  and  put  the  matter 
on  another  basis  by  givin  it  to  Quebec.  This  would  be  at  least  a  plausible  line  of  argu- 
ment. 


420  BULLETIN    OP    THE    UNIVERSITY    OP    WISCONSIN. 

to  an  official  of  long  standing  and  known  discretion.  If 
other  matters  had  been  of  weight  in  the  Imperial  councils 
there  would  seem  to  have  been  no  reason  for  the  careful 
concealment,  and  no  possibility  of  the  unintentional  neg- 
lect, of  them  in  this  quarter. 

On  the  other  hand,  although  it  is  true  that  before  the 
actual  appearance  of  the  Quebec  Act  we  have  no  indication 
that  the  extension  of  the  Province  made  by  it  had  any  con- 
nection whatever  with  the  contemporary  difficulties  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  other  colonies,  and  although  it  must  be 
conceded  that  apart  from  such  reference  the  Imperial  au- 
thorities seem  to  have  ample  justification  for  that  exten- 
sion, yet  it  is  undeniable  that  the  considerations  which 
excited  the  fears  of  the  Continental  Congress  were  put  for- 
ward by  supporters  (as  well  as  by  opponents),  of  the  meas- 
ure, both  in  Parliament  and  outside.  But  this  was  not 
pi'ominently  done,  at  least  at  first;  so  incidentally  indeed 
that  in  the  whole  of  the  spirited  debates  in  both  the  Com- 
mons and  Lords  on  the  Quebec  Bill  in  May  and  June,  1774, 
such  references  appear  in  the  mouths  of  only  two  support- 
ers of  the  Bill,  and  their  utterances  are  apparently  not  spe- 
cifically noticed  by  the  opposition.  One  of  these  more 
candid  or  incautious  speakers  was  Solicitor-General  Wed- 
derbourne  who  stated  in  the  Commons  that  one  of  the  ob- 
jects of  the  measure  was  to  deter  Englishmen  from  settling 
in  Canada,  and  that  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  ex- 
tension of  territory  would  be  that  the  other  inhabitants  of 
North  America  "will  have  little  temptation  to  stretch  them- 
selves northwards."'  He  added  moreover,  "  I  think  this 
limitation  of  the  boundary  (i.  e,  of  the  older  colonies)  will 
be  a  better  mode  than  any  restriction  laid  upon  govern- 

1  Cavendish,  licpDrt,  p.  58.  Wodderbouriie  was  at  this  time  ona  of  the  pillars  of  the 
Govorntnent  in  tlio  (^^omnions.  But  !u)  was  not  responsible  for  the  prosout  Bill,  and 
thouKh  in  his  oHicial  cai)aoity  supportiiiK  it  as  a  whoh),  he  plainly  intimated  that  it  had 
not  liis  entire  approval.  The  statement  had  been  imniediatoly  preceded  by  the  remark 
tliat  lie  did  not  tliiuk  tliat  any  temptatiou  sliould  bs  held  out  to  natives  of  England  to 
emigrate. 


COFKIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-76.        421 

ment.  In  the  grant  of  lands  we  ought  to  confine  the  in- 
habitants to  keep  them  according  to  the  ancient  policy  of 
the  country  along  the  line  of  the  sea  and  river." 

This  statement  as  I  have  said  seems  to  have  excited  no 
comment  from  either  side  of  the  House;'  an  oversight  on 
the  part  of  the  opposition  which  is  the  more  remarkable 
from  the  fact  that  several  of  their  speakers  hint  darkly  at 
"the  secret  designs "  of  the  Bill,  and  taunt  the  Ministry 
with  concealing  their  real  motives,' — hints  and  taunts 
which  elicited  no  reply.  Lord  North,  the  leader  of  the 
House,  upheld  the  extension  as  made  simply  in  the  interests 
of  the  fisheries  in  the  East  and  of  security  to  life  and  trade 
in  the  West;  though  it  will  be  seen  that  the  preamble  of 
the  Act  refers  only  for  the  Western  territory  to  the  need 
of  civil  government  for  the  "  several  colonies  and  settle- 
ments. "  The  enacting  clause  pays  special  attention  to  the 
northern  and  western  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania  as 
"  granted  by  the  Charter,  "  beside  making  the  provision 
"  that  nothing  herein  contained  .  .  .  shall  in  any  wise 
affect  the  boundaries  of  any  other  colony ; "  but  there  is  no 
reference  to  the  Western  claims  of  any  of  the  Provinces. 
As  first  introduced  the  clause  read  very  differently, — "  all  the 
said  territories,  islands  and  countries,  extending  southward 
to  the  banks  of  the  river  Ohio,  Westward  to  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi  .  .  .  not  within  the  limits  of  any  other 
British  colony,  as  allowed  and  confirrr.ed  by  the  Crown.  "  A 
petition  against  this  indetiniteness  was  presented  by  the 
Pennsylvania  proprietories,  and  Burke  also  objected  in  be- 
half of  New  York.  Lord  North  professed  every  readiness  to 
pay  regard  to  both  settled  and  unsettled  boundaries,  while 
declaring  that  the  original  intent  had  been  to  leave  the  fix- 
ing of  more  precise  southern  bounds  to  later  local  agree- 
ment; and  on  Burke's  motion,  representing  that  otherwise 

'  The  cimnco  reporters  from  whom  tlie  Parliamentary  History  of  the  period  was  coin 
piled,  seern  also  not  to  have  heard  it  or  to  have  not  thou(;ht  it  worth  while  notiuK. 
^Cdvcnili.th,  pp.  1,H7,  85, 214  —  pagings  which  refer  to  the  beginnings  of  the  speeches  in 

which  the  references  occur. 
10 


4  22  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITV  OP  WISCONSIN. 

the  Colonies  would  in  this  matter  be  left  at  the  mercy  of 
the  executive,  the  established  clause  was  substituted  for 
the  above. 

When  with  this  and  other  Amendments  the  bill  went  back 
to  the  Lords  it  was  received  by  a  small  but  spirited  oppo- 
sition,   headed  by  Chatham.      Its  principal  defender  was 
Lord  Lyttleton,  who  referred  to  the  idea  put  forward  by 
Chatham  that  Canada  would  at  a  future  day  be  used  as  a 
proper  instrument  to  quell  British  America,  with  the  remark 
that  he  was  not  apprehensive  of  this,  but  that  if  the  Amer- 
icans were  determined  to  persist  in  their  rebellious  course 
he  saw  no  reason  why  Canada,  with  the  rest  of  the  Empire, 
should  not  be  so  employed;  and  that  in  such  an  event  he 
regarded  it  as  happy  that  the  local  situation  of  the  Can- 
adians was  such  that  they  might  form  some  check  to  the 
"  fierce  fanatic  spirits  "  of  the  other  Provinces.'     This  how- 
ever illiberal,   does  not  apparently  refer  to  this  situation 
as  one  resulting  from  the  provisions  of  the  Quebec  Act. 
Whatever  the  inference,  this  and  the  statement  of  Wedder- 
bourne  quoted  above  are  the  strongest  suggestions  of  hidden 
motives  on  this  point,  that,  so  far  as  I  have  discovered,  ap- 
pear at  this  time  in  the  mouths  of  supporters  of  the  Govern- 
ment. In  the  close  tracing  of  the  preliminary  steps  through 
the  ten  years  preceding  the  Act  I  have  met  with  no  other  evi- 
dence fitted  in  any  degree  to  support  the  belief  that  the  exten- 
sion by  it  of  the  boundaries  of  Quebec  was  dictated  by  hos- 
tility to  the   growth  and  liberties  of  the   other  colonies 
other  than  that  which  may  perhaps  be  said  to  mark  every 
part  of  the  colonial  system.    And  whether  these  statements 
are  fitted  to  support  that  belief  will  appear  very  doubtful 
to  those  who  have  entered  into  the  spirit  of  that  colonial 
system.      Even  if  it  should  be  established  that  they  were 
not  merely  private   and  incidental   utterances,   but  were 
really  expressive  of  definite  ideas  and  motives  on  the  part 
of  the  originators  of  the  Quebec  Act,  it  will  yet  remain  to  be 

1  Parliamentary  History.  Vol.  17,  p.  U(J2  et  seq. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  Qt;EBEC,    17(JU-76.  423 

shown  that  they  betoken  a  different  standpoint  than  that 
occupied  by  the  Board  of  Trade  for  some  time  back. 
Closely  connected  with  that  view  of  the  interests  of  Groat 
Britain  which  for  a  long  time  had  inspired  the  hostility  to 
colonial  manufactures,  for  example,  was  a  strongly  rooted 
preference  of  shore  to  inland  colonies;  a  preference  based 
on  the  belief  that  the  farther  the  colonists  removed  them- 
selves from  the  ocean  and  the  mother  country,  the  more  in- 
evitably wovild  they  be  led  to  manufacturing  enterprises 
and  the  less  easy  would  it  be  for  Great  Britain  to  restrain 
this  activity.  It  was  simply  another  aspect  of  the  trade 
considerations  which  led  to  such  emphasis  being  placed 
upon  the  conciliation  of  the  savages;  it  cannot  be  shown 
to  imply  any  new  development  of  anti-colonial  policy,  or 
any  insidious  scheme  of  building  up  in  the  West  new  com- 
munities of  alien  social  and  governmental  constitution, 
with  the  aim  of  being  later  used  as  instruments  against  the 
growth  and  liberties  of  the  older  colonics.  By  the  ordinary 
colonial  views  of  the  older  illiberal  school  the  attitude  of 
Wedderbourne  and  Lyttelton  can  I  think  be  sufficiently 
ex])lained. 

And  not  their  views  alone;  but  also  such  parts  of  the  Im- 
perial policy  in  regard  to  the  West  as  cannot  be  attributed 
to  real  solicitude  for  the  Indian  and  for  the  safety  of 
the  colonies.  For  if  I  have  been  successful  in  presenting 
my  point  of  view  in  the  above,  it  will  be  already  evident 
what  position  I  take  with  regard  to  continuity  of  policy 
throughout  this  period  in  respect  to  the  Western  lands.  I 
see  no  reason  to  agree  with  Hinsdale  even  in  the  more  mod- 
erate assertion  that  "  the  Western  policy  of  the  British  was 
not  steady  or  consistent,  but  fitful  and  capricious;" '  it  seems 
to  me  that  no  inconsistency  is  to  be  detected  between  the 
policy  that  dictated  the  Proclamation  of  1763,— apolicy  that 
was  manifest  as  early  at  least  as  1756, —  and  that  which 
was  expressed  in  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774.     It  has  been  one 

1  Old  Xorthwest,  p,  141. 


424  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

of  my  objects  throuf?hout  this  investigation  to  show  the  long^ 
course  of  weakness,  ignorance,  and  procrastination  that 
stretches  between  the  acquisition  of  Canada  and  the  final 
settlement  of  its  constitution.  These  qualities  are  not  en- 
tirely ansent  in  the  treatment  of  the  matter  under  discus- 
sion; but  that  treatment  nevertheless  presents  more  con- 
sistency and  firmness  than  we  find  in  almost  any  other  part 
of  the  dealing  with  tha  situation.  The  frequent  changes 
of  Ministry  and  Secretary  seem  to  have  affected  the  pecu- 
liar sphere  of  the  Board  of  Trade  less  than  any  other  part 
of  the  administration;  simply,  it  is  to  be  contended,  because 
that  Board  was  now  acting  on  long  established  principles, 
applied  to  the  new  conditions  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 
only  slowly  giving  way  to  the  inevitable  western  changes. 
These  are  the  principles  of  the  old  colonial -commercial  pol- 
icy ;  and  no  better  expression  of  them  can  perhaps  be  found 
than  in  the  words  of  the  Board  of  Trade  itself  in  1768,  in 
its  adverse  report  with  regard  to  the  proposed  new  settle- 
ments at  Detroit  and  in  the  Illinois  country.'  The  signifi- 
cant part  of  this  is  as  follows: 

"The  proposition  of  forming  inland  colonies  in  America 
is,  we  humbly  conceive,  entirely  new.  It  adopts  principles 
in  respect  to  American  settlements  different  from  what  has 
hitherto  been  the  policy  of  this  kingdom,  and  leads  to  a 
system  which,  if  pursued  through  all  its  consequences,  is, 
in  the  present  state  of  that  countrj'',  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance. 

The  great  object   of  colonizing   upon    the  continent  of 

1  Franklin's  answer  to  HillsborouKli,  1772  ( ir-irA-.f,  V.  55,  Bigplow  edition,  1887).  For 
the  report  itself  see  its  ijuotation  l)y  HillsborouRh  (llikl.  V.  5-12).  For  very  interesting 
record  of  the  progress  of  the  sclioine  to  wliicli  tliis  was  the  death-blow,  see  letters  of 
Franklin  to  his  son,  Sept.  27,  1766— March  18,  176«  (UtiiL,  13«-45).  This  reference  I  owe  to 
the  unpublished  inono$;raph  on  western  settleinentsjof  Mr,  (t.  H.  Alden  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.  It  exhibits  Shelbourne,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Southern  Department 
when  the  scheme  was  first  advanced  (by  Franklin  and  others),  as  decidedly  favorable 
to  it,  together  perhaps  with  some  other  officials.  But  Shelbourne  was  evidently  in  this 
as  in  some  other  matters,  in  advance  of  his  time  (see  Fitzmaurice,  Shelbourne,  II,  31) ; 
the  Board  of  Trade  seems  not  to  have  wavered  in  its  position,  and  Shelbourne's  retire- 
ment in  January  1768  in  favor  of  Hillsborough,  the  chief  representative  of  the  opposite 
view,  may  perhaps  not  unreasonably  be  regarded  as  helped  on  by  his  heterodox  liberal- 
ism. It  is  apparently  the  first  vigorous  shaking  of  the  older  policy ;  but  that  policy  ia. 
still  triumphant. 


COKt'IN — THE   PROVINCE  OV  QUEHEC.    17»)fl-7().  425 

North  America  has  been  to  improve  and  extend  the  com- 
merce, navigation,  and  manufactures  of  this  kinj^dom,  upon 
which  its  strength  and  security  depend. 

1.  By  promoting  the  advantageous  fishery  carried  on  upon 
the  northern  coast. 

2.  By  encouraging  the  growth  and  culture  of  naval  stores 
and  of  raw  materials,  to  be  transported  hither  in  exchange 
for  perfect  manufactures  and  other  merchandise. 

3.  By  securing  a  supply  of  lumber,  provisions,  and  other 
necessaries,  for  the  support  of  oar  establisiiments  in  the 
American  islands. 

In  order  to  answer  these  salutai-y  purposes,  it  has  been 
the  policy  of  this  kingdom  to  confine  her  settlements  as 
much  as  possible  to  the  sea-coast,  and  not  to  extend  them 
to  places  inaccessible  to  shipping,  and  consequently  more 
out  of  the  reach  of  commerce;  a  plan  which  at  the  same 
time  that  it  secured  the  attainment  of  these  commercial  ob- 
jects, had  the  further  political  advantage  of  guarding 
against  all  interfering  of  foreign  powers,  and  of  enabling 
this  kingdom  to  keep  up  a  superior  naval  force  in  those 
seas,  by  the  actual  possession  of  such  rivers  and  harbours 
as  were  proper  stations  for  fleets  in  time  of  war. 

Such,  ma.y  it  please  your  Majesty,  have  been  the  consid- 
erations inducing  that  plan  of  policy  hitherto  pursued  in 
the  settlement  of  your  Majesty's  American  colonies,  with 
which  the  private  interest  and  sagacity  of  the  settlers 
cooperated  from  the  first  establishments  formed  upon  that 
continent.  It  was  upon  these  principles,  and  with  these 
views,  that  government  undertook  the  settlement  of  Nova 
Scotia  in  1749;  and  it  was  from  a  view  of  the  advantages 
represented  to  arise  from  it  in  these  different  articles  that 
it  was  so  liberally  supported  by  the  aid  of  Parliament. 

The  same  motives,  though  operating  in  a  less  degree,  and 
applying  to  fewer  subjects,  did  as  we  humbly  conceive,  in- 
duce the  forming  the  colonies  of  Georgia,  East  Florida, 
and  West  Florida,  to  the  south,  and  the  making  those  pro- 
vincial arrangements  in  the  proclamation  of  1763,  by  which 
the  interior  country  was  left  to  the  possession  of  the  In- 
dians." 

Here  we  have,  it  will  be  seen,  not  only  the  constant 
reference  throughout  to  a  policy  which  is  considered  as  of 
long  standing,  but  the  definite  statement  that  this  policy 
was  directly  acted  upon  by  the  government  on  an  import- 
ant occasion  as  early  as  1749,  and  that  it  was  operative  in 
the  arrangmeuts  of  1763.     It  is   true  that  Hillsborough, 


42t;  IIUM.ETIN   OV  THE  UNIVKRBITY  OK  WIBC'ONPIN. 

while  quoting  this  statement  with  the  fullest  approbation, 
has  just  before  spoken  of  "  that  principle  which  was 
adopted  by  this  Board  and  approved  and  confirmed  by  his 
Majesty,  immediately  after  the  treaty  of  Paris,  viz. :  the 
confining  the  western  extent  of  settlements  to  such  a  dis- 
tance from  the  sea-coast  as  that,  etc.;"  but  it  is  evident 
either  that  this  is  due  to  a  confusion  and  heedlessness  quite 
characteristic  of  the  writer,  or  that  it  is  a  mere  misuse  of 
language,  by  the  "  principle  "  affirmed  there  oeing  really 
meant  only  the  new  application  of  an  old  principle  to  con- 
ditions which  had  now  for  the  first  time  fully  presented 
themselves.  In  Franklin's  reply  to  Hillsborough  he  accepts 
without  question  the  definition  of  i)olicy,  and  in  proceeding 
to  refer  to  the  grant  on  the  Ohio  which  had  been  approved 
in  1748,  brings  this  forward,  not  to  show  that  that  policy 
was  not  then  in  operation,  but  on  the  contrary,  going  on 
the  assumption  that  it  was  then  in  force,  to  show  that  the 
region  in  question  did  not  come  within  its  operation,  be- 
cause not  in  fact  and  not  considered  "  without  the  reach  of 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  this  kingdom."  '  It  is  clear  that 
Franklin's  argument  on  this  matter  is  entirely  without 
point  unless  it  proceeds  on  such  a  basis.  If  the  Board  of 
Trade  were  not  to  be  supposed  to  be  animated  by  the  prin- 
cirjle  in  question  as  a  general  one,  their  action  could  show 
nothing  with  regard  to  the  application  of  it  to  the  region 
included  within  the  grant  of  1748. 

But  we  have,  it  is  said,  evidence  of  inconsistency  or  dif- 
ferent policy  in  the  treatment  of  the  more  southern  portion 
of  the  West  in  1772  through  the  approval  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  colony  south  of  the  Ohio,  to  be  known  as 
Vandalia.  Tha  inner  history  of  this  matter  will  show, 
however,  that  it  cannot  properly  be  so  regarded.  For 
whether  or  not  this  region  was,  as  Franklin  contends  in 
the  argument  noted  above,  regarded  as  on  a  different  basis 

I  Works,  V.  32. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-70.  427 

as  early  as  1748,  it  is  very  clear  that  it  had  so  established 
itself  by   1772.     As  early  as  1764,  Franklin  tells  us,'  gov- 
ernment contomi>lated  the  i)lacing  of  it  in  a  different  posi- 
tion, as  a  part  of  tlie  plan  then  under  consideration  for  the 
regulation  of  the  Indian  trade;  aiming  by  its  purchase  from 
the  Indians  to  "  establish  with  their  consent,  a  respectable 
boimdary  line,  beyond  which  his  Majesty's  subjects  should 
not  be  permitted  to  settle.  "     The  negotiations  then  entered 
upon  with  the  Indians  were  however  delayed,   and  mean- 
while, between  17(5.')  and  176ft  large  numbers  of  settlers  came 
into  the  region  and  brought  about  a  critical  state  of  things 
with  the  Indians.     This  hastened  the  action  of  the  author- 
ities, and  the  purchase  was  finally  completed  by  the  treaty 
of  Port  Stanwix  in  November,  1768.     That  the  home  gov- 
ernment had  reconciled  itself  fully  to  settlement  here  and 
had  made  the  purchase  Avith  such  settlement  in  view,  is 
shown  (as  was  pointed  out  by  Franklin),-  by  the  reference 
in  the  Board  of  Trade  Report  quoted  above  to  "  the  liberty 
that  the  inhabitants  of   the  middle  colonies  will   have  (in 
consequence  of   the  proposed   boundary  line  with  the  In- 
dians) of  gradually  establishing  themselves  backwards."  ' 
And  yet  it  is  this  sama  Report,    it  will  be   remembered, 
which  is  drawn  up  for  the  purpose  of  making  that  strong 
re- statement  of  general   colonial    policy  which  has  been 
quoted  from  above.     So  that  for  the  Fort  Stanwix  region 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  question  that  Franklin  is  cor- 
rect in  stating  *  that  "  the  true  reason  for  purchasing  the 
lands   comprised  within  that  boundary  were  to  avoid  an 
Indian  rupture,  and  give  an  opportunity  to  the  king's  sub- 
jects quietly  and  lawfully  to  settle  thereon."    Or,  as  he 
strongly  puts  it,  that  the  proclamation  which  had  reserved 
lands  for  the  use  of  the  Indians  had  lost  its  force  with  re- 

1  Works,  V.  :«. 
'  TbUI.,  v.  55-6. 
'  Ibid.,  V.  10. 
<  ibW.,  p.  43.  ■=  -       „ 


428  BULLETIN  OF  TFir  TjjflVRRaiTV  OV    WIHOONfllN. 

gard  to  that  portion  of  those  hinds  which  the  Indians  by 
selling  had  shown  they  had  no  use  for.' 

In  170H  therefore,  government,  while  strongly  roenuncl- 
ating  the  general  Western  policy,  ha'd  just  as  clearly  ac- 
knowh  (Iged  that  this  policy  was  not  to  be  applied  to  the 
region  south  of  the  Ohio.^  This  latter  territory  was  now 
detinitely  deprived  of  that  character  which,  in  the  minis- 
terial mind,  still  remained  attached  to  the  more  northern 
country,  viz. :  appropriation  to  the  Indian  as  a  hunting 
ground.  Between  17(58  and  1772  settlement  continued  to 
pour  into  the  Ohio  country  to  such  an  extent  as  to  show 
beyond  doubt  that  this  character  had  departed  for  all  time.' 
So  that  in  17/2,  when  the  Walpole  matter  came  up  for  final 
determination,  it  was  not  difticult  for  Franklin  to  make  a 
triumphant  case  against  the  belated  views  of  Hillsborough. 
The  commercial  policy  had  here  yielded  finally  to  the  force 

'  A  liu.ity  n'ii(liii«  of  tliis  piirt  of  Friiiikliii'.-i  ihiiht  niiiflit  possihly  jjivc  tin-  impn-srtioti 
tliat  li«  iniiiiinizKM  or  Icisch  siKlitof  tli(>  Kf^inu-al  principlos  t>f  policy  wliicli  itispintil  t)io 
Procliiniutioii  of  176:<,  nml  tliiit  he  roKanlN  it  an  ninluly  iiitendnil  to  imcify  and  protoot 
tlio  IndiiiiiM.  Such  n  vitnv  I  slioiild  regard  oithor  as  an  orrni',  or  as  thi'  niish>ndinK  oni- 
phnsis  of  a  i)artizan  briof.  Hut  t  do  not  tliiiik  Franklin  is  charwabln  in  citlmr  rospect; 
for  in  a  previous  part  of  )iis  paper  (V,  ',i2)  ho  plainly  declares  that  the  definition  of  thn 
policy  of  the  Board  in  ITii.)  as  laid  down  by  Hillsborouuh,  ho  will  not  "  |)rosunio  to  con- 
trovort."  And  ns  I  have  shown  above,  his  lat«r  arKument  is  evidently  bH.^'od  on  th»  ao- 
coptance  of  the  pri'iciplos  of  the  Report  of  llfix.  In  what  he  says  n.s  to  the  cossution  of 
the  force  of  the  Proclamation  throuKh  purchase  from  the  Indians  he  has  refortMico  of 
course  only  to  the  lands  south  of  the  Oliio,—  a  re«ion  to  which,  ho  labors  throughout  to 
show,  the  principles  of  the  established  policy  did  not  properly  extend.  Franklin  was 
too  Kood  a  debater  to  prejudice  his  case  by  RoiuK  out  of  his  way  unnecessarily.  And 
lionce  the  reference  to  Mr.  Urenville  (V.  37)  as  liavin«,  with  reijard  to  th(>  I'roclanuition, 
"always  admitted  that  tho  desin"  of  it  was  totally  accomplished  as  soon  as  the  country 
was  purchased  from  the  natives,"  I  can  roftard  as  (piotod  purely  with  roforenco  to  the 
country  that  had  t«ien  purcliased  in  176.S,  and  ns  not  KiviuR,  or  purporting  to  kIvo, 
Oronvillo's  views  with  regard  to  the  (Milicy  or  intent  of  the  Proclamation  as  a  whole. 
When  the  "admission"  was  made  does  not  apiH>ar;  tho  lauKiuiKO  would  soom  to  show 
that  it  was  subsequent  to  the  purchase.  But  it  will  bo  romombered  that  tho  Grenville 
government  had  entered  into  noRotiptions  for  such  a  purchase  (with  regard  only  to  the 
region  south  of  the  Ohio),  as  earlj  as  1764.    {Franklin,  V.  ;)8). 

"It  is  probable  that  the  unimportance  of  this  latter  territory  with  regard  to  the  fur 
trade  was  of  strong  influence  in  bringing  about  this  attitude.  Franklin  says  that  the 
Indians  wore  willing  to  soil  because  they  had  no  use  for  tho  lands  "either  for  resi- 
dence or  hunting."     (V.  IH). 

•  Franklin  assorted  in  1772  that  it  was  certain  that  at  least  aO,000  settlors  were  then 
there.    (  HorA;.t,  V.  7I.| 


OOKVIN — TriK  I'ROVINOK  OK  QUinKO,    17t)0-7().  429 

of  clrcumstancos,  and  the  words  in  which  the  grunt  (Van- 
dal ia)  was  finally  recommended  by  the  Committee  of  Coun- 
cil must  bo  looked  upon  us  intended  to  show  the  reasons 
for  this  departure  from  what  was  still  however  the  estab- 
lished policy.  As  stated  by  Franklin'  these  reasons  were 
as  follows: 

"  1.  That  the  lands  in  question  had  been  for  some  time  past 
and  were  then  in  an  actual  state  of  settling,  numbers  of 
families  to  a  very  considerable  amount  removing  thither 
from  his  said  Majesty's  other  colonies. 

"L*.  That  tlie  lands  in  question  did  not  lie  beyond  all  ad- 
vantageous intercourse  with  the  kingdom  of  (ireat  Britain.  " 

It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  grant  of  1772  is  neither  a 
mark  of  inconsistency  nor  a  sign  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
old  commercial-colonial  policy  with  regard  to  the  West.  If 
circumstances  had  forced  this  step  .south  of  the  Ohio,  the 
Quebec  Act  two  years  later  showed  that  there  had  been  no 
such  change  with  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  country.  Though 
even  this  latter  it  would  seem  could  not  be  regarded  as 
purely  as  before  as  a  mero  fur  region;  it  has  been  shown 
above  that  the  modifying  of  the  first  ideas  with  regard  to 
its  disposition  was  doubtless  partly  due  to  the  discovery 
that  a  degree  of  .settlement  had  gone  on  even  within  it 
which  could  not  be  entirely  disregarded.'  It  was  not  dis- 
regarded, but  it  was  regarded  as  slightly  as  possible  by  the 
attachment  of  the  whole  region  to  Quebec. 

A  very  notable  pamphleteer  of  the  year  1774 '  forcibly 
sums  up  this  matter.  After  stating  that  the  Proclamation 
of  1703  was  intended  to  be  followed  up  a  general  plan  of 
regulation  for  the  Indian  trade,  he  affirms,  (as  noted  above), 

I  Wurk-s,  X.  ys.'). 

'Tlio  proarable  of  tho  Quoboc  Act  speaks  of  the  several  French  colonies  and  settle- 
ments which  by  tlie  Proclnmatioii  wore  loft  without  civil  srovernment ;  (a  i)etition  for  it 
had  been  received  from  at  leu.st  one  of  tliom).  NothiuK  is  said  of  now  settlement;  but 
Dartmouth's  letters  show  that  it  must  liavo  Ixion  known  tliat  itiiad  steadily  proceeded. 

'"The  Justice  and  Policy  of  tho  late  .-Vet  of  Parliament  for  niakinp  some  effectual 
provision  for  tho  (iovem'nont  of  tho  Province  of  Quebec  asserted  and  proved;  and  the 
conduct  of  Administration  resiwctiug  that  Province  stated  and  vindicated."  By  Wm. 
Knox.    Load.  1774.    Thou^jh  uuablo  to  prove  it,  I  believe  tliis  to  have  been  inspired. 


430  UI'M-KTIN   OK  TIIK   UN'IVERSITV  OK   WIHCOXHIN. 

that  the  cvonts  of  th»!  yoar  followin^^  proved    fatal  to   the 
doing  of  this,  as  it  was  not  t^iought  exj)ediont  to  lay  that 
tax  upon  the  trade  V^y  which  the  expense  was  to  Vk'  deferred. 
"This  was  the  njason  that  so  hirf^o  a  part  of  th(!  c(jded  ter- 
ritory in  America  was  left  witl'iout  «<overnment,  and  that 
the  new  prf»vince  of  (Quebec  contained  so  small  a  poriion  of 
ancient  Canada.  "     The   small   French    settlements    in    the 
region,  he  cf)ntinuo.;,  w(!re  N.'ft  under  the  military  govern- 
ment of  the  posts,   "as  most  likely  to  prevent  an  increase 
of    inhabitants."     I  Jut   in    tlie   parts  contiguous  to  the  old 
colonies  immigrants  llock(;d  in  and   forced  the  Indians  to 
fall  back;  and  as  these  nev/  settlements  were  without  \.iivil 
jurisdiction  and  were  every  day  in(;i(!asing,   "the;  case  was 
judged  to  b(i  without  other  renjedy  than  that  of  folh^wing 
the  emigrants  with  government  and  erecting  a  new  i'rov- 
ince  between  the  All(;ghany  mountains  and  the  river  Ohio 
for   that  j)urpos(!. "     liut  to  jirevent  a  recurrence  of   tho 
necessiiy  it  was  resolv(jd,  (and  done  by  th(!  Quebec  Act), 
to  put  the  whole  remaining  regi^m  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  (Government  of  Quebec,   '   -vith  the  avowed  i)urpose 
of  excluding  all   furthc^r   stitthiment  thereir;,  and   for   the 
estaV>lishmenl  of  uniform  regulation  for  the  Indian  trade." 
The   Province   of    Quebec    was    preferred,     '  Vj(.'cause    the 
access  by  water  is  much  easier  from  Quebec  to  such  parts 
of  this  country  as  are  the  most  likely  to  be  intruded  upon 
tVian  from    any  other  colony."     Only   under  one  uniform, 
government  could   the  Indian   ha   protected,  and    thus  Vje 
prevented   "  the  fiuarrels  and  murders  which  are  every  day 
hap))ening   and  which  are    the  certain   consequence   of    a 
fraudulent  commerce."     There  seems  no   reason   to   douVjt 
the  substantial  correctness  of  these   assertions;  especially 
when  we  find  the  Government  despatching  to  Carlfiton  with 
his  new  commission  in  1775,  as  a  guide  in  his  dealings  with 
the  Indians  and  the  WesUjrn  trade,  the  identical  regulations 
which  had  been  drawn  up  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1764.' 

'Caij.  Arch.,  InHtrw.Lloiu  to  Governor*,    A|<p«)ii(lix  to  Carletou'w  luHtructiouH,  1775. 


OOKKIN  — TlIK    I'ROVINf'K   0|    QI'KUKC,    1  7<iO    70.  4.51 

T?)0  writer  is  ovidctntly  sitnukin^  from  tho  standpoint  of 
the  illiV>eral  commercial -folonial  policy;  but  it  will  b(!  seen 
tiiat  ho  is  ap])arently  i^'norant  of  any  hut  trade  motives  for 
this  part  of  the  recent  measure,  and  that  he  ref^ards  it  as 
dictated  by  precisely  the  same  policy  us  that  whicli  had 
produced  th(!  Proclamation  of  1  "<•.'}.  And  this  policy,  I 
repeat  in  conclusion,  was  caused  n<iither  by  tlie  acfjuisition 
of  Canada  nfjr  i>y  the  colonial  troubles  of  the  seventies.  It 
was  only  a  new  api>lication  of  that  principle  of  comm(!)'cial 
monopoly  which,  us  Burke  says,  runs  throuf/;!!  twenty-nine 
Acts  "  from  the  year  1000  to  the  unfortunate;  jteriod  of  170)4;  " 
there  is  no  j:(round  whatever  for  connectinj(  it,  in  origin  or 
maint(!nance,  with  the  special  troubles  in  the  other  colonies, 
or  with  any  sinister  desif^ns  against  these  latter.  A  con- 
nection which,  I  need  scarcely  again  observe,  certainly  can- 
not be  made  if  the  continuity  of  j)olicy  as  between  1703  and 
1774  be  conceded. 

But  while  defending  the  originators  of  the  (Quebec  Act 
from  the  heavier  reproach  brought  against  them  on  this 
point,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  in  th(;  least  defend- 
ing the  Western  policy  of  the  measure  in  itself.  Disastrous 
as  the  Quebec  Act  proved,  no  part  of  it  I  think  was  more- 
shortsighted  or  more  disastrous  than  this  treatment  of  the 
Western  lands.  Following  up  the  Proclamation  of  !70;j, 
it  seemed  an  attempt  to  indefinitely  maintain  in  the  great 
heart  of  the  continent,  when  apparently  thrown  open  for 
Anglo-American  expansion,  the  policy  of  monopoly  and  re 
striction  against  which  the  colonies  on  the  coast  were 
chafing  so  .sorely.  It  was  natural  that  the  latter  should 
imagine  themselves  threatened  and  impeded  more  ma- 
lignly and  seriously  than  could  have  proven  to  be  the 
case;  it  was  on  this  side,  I  have  littlcj  doubt,  that  the 
QueV>ec  Act  figured  most  prominently  amongst  the  col- 
onial grievances.  Great  Britain  might  well  seem  to  have 
become  '  the  most  active  foe  of  the  English  race  in  Amer- 

I  RfxiHuvolt,  Winniiifi  iif  llf  U>.i<,  I    'M.     Tlioiirli  I  liavo  <|iif)f<!<l  thiH  i-xii.'-i^HHioii,  I  by 
uo  rneiiuB  UKree  fuJJy  willi  tfjo  way  i'l  which  it,  its  un;<l  hy  tliiti  writer.    Jin  ut,tribut,<!H  to 


^'.',2  IJI'f-r.KTIN  OF   TIIK   UNIVKItSITV   OK   WIHrONHIN. 

ica.  "'  In  this  li<^ht  f  uin  irjclinod  to  omphusi/o  strongly 
the  importance  of  th(*  Act  in  alarminj^  and  (imhitt<jrln{<  tiio 
colonists.'  Tiifsy  woro  not  lilfiily  to  stoj)  and  rolloct  that 
though  the  policy  of  th<!  mother  country  ajiparcntly 
remained  the  same,  that  policy  had  alnjudy  t^roken 
down  in  one  imy)ortant  sectif>n  of  the  new  t(MTitory  before  the 
inrush  of  th(i  pioneers,  and  tliat  there  was  no  j>robability 
that  it  would  be  any  morci  j)errnanent  with  regard  to  the 
remaining  portions. 

b.    /ldl(/iim.  The  second  irnjjortant  provision  of  the  (^uetjec 
Act  was  that  notc'd  one  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  the  pro- 
fessors of  theCJalholic  faith  witiiin  th<;  I'rovince  "may  have, 
hold,  and  enjoy  the  free  exercis  ;  of  the  r(;ligion  rjf  theCiiurch 
of  Rome,  subject  to  the  King's  supremacy,    .    .    .    and  that 
the  clergy  of  the  established  Church  may  hold,  receive,  and 
enjoy  their  accustomed  dues  and  rights,  '  in  regard  to  such 
I)rofessors.     At  the  same  time  the  adlierents  of  that  Church 
■W(ire  reliev(;d   from  th(;  oath  oi  Supremacy  established   by 
p]lizabeth  on  condition  of   taifing  a  simple  oath  of  allegi 
ance.     Th(;s<;  are  the  provisions  wliich  move  Lecky  to  do 
scribe  the  Act  as  marking  an  "epoch  in  the  history  of  reli- 
gious liijerty,  '  and  which  at  the  time  moved  the  Continen- 
tal   Congress  to  expr<jss  its   astonishment   that   a   British 
Parliament  "  should  ever  consent  to  establish  in  that  country 
a  religicjti  that  has  d(;luged  your  island  in  blood,  and  dis 
persed  impiety,  bigotry,  persecution,  murder,  and  reVjellion 
through  every  part  of  the  world."     We  must  examine  these 
provisions  in  the  light  of  the  attitude  of  the  Home  and  Pro 
vincial  governments  to  the  church  throughout  the  period; 


KiikIx'kI  II  •'">  ooiDiciouh  (irid  .--(xtoiHl  lio>-lilily,  ami  (\iiU"i  it  from  tin)  cIkmi!  ot  tin) 
w;ir.  Hi«  <!rri)r  wiiiiriM  iiiiiiiily  iliin  l^i  tlin  upjiaroiit  rlifllcioiicy  in  Kr-'mp  •>'  •'"'  fulijoct 
aijil  c:i)iiHiHt<Mi('..y  of  vinw  wliicli  i«  uliowfi  in  t.lio  UHHortion  nlxDwhnn)  tlict  tin-  iritiirciHtHof 
QuiitM^n,  "  iliil  mit  coiidlct  with  tlioMCf  of  oiir  i)()<)jjlci  or  touch  tlimii  in  any  way,  ami  ulio 
had  littlii  to  do  with  our  ijalional  history  atid  nothitm'  whalnviT  U>  do  with  tliD  hiit/ory 
of  tim  W<;Ht."     ll.'i/,  I 

I  Silt!  in  rnK'ird  U>  thi.i  tho  JCi:iiiniiHtraHr:i:  of  thi)  .N.  Y.  Jji)«iitlatun!,  .Mar.  i'l,  177r),  Ut  tlio 
HritiMli  t'urliaintnit  on  thw  MubJHCt  of  thw  Quolx'c  Act.  It  i-i  tnl««u  up  iilinoat  wholly  with 
this  Hid«  of  tho  niiiumir.).     (I'lj.rl.  II-hI.  Will,  m>.\ 


OOPKIN — TMK    l'K<»VINf:K  OK  QUKHKC,    1  7f!0    70.  433 

and  w(i  Khali  find  that  on  the  one  hand  thr;  frarnerK  of  tlio 
Act  had  no  i)urposo  of  "  ostablishinf^  "  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  that  on  t}i(;  other,  the  measurti  is  by  no  umanH 
so  notaljle  from  the  standpoint  of  re!if.'i(jus  liberty  as  it  has 
ai»|(ear(!d. 

The  prominence  of  the  rcdi^ious  elerfient  in  Canada,  and 
the  [)Osition  the  Rf>man  (Jatholic  (Jhurch  had  so  lonf<  oc- 
cupied in  secular  matt(!rs  as  well,  rnad(i  th(;  trciatment  of 
tliat  church,  and  its  future  jjosition,  one  of  the  most  imj)or- 
tant  and  pressinj(^  of  the  jiroblems  that  confronted  the  new 
Government.  The  conquerors  v/ere  pledj^ed  by  the  (Japit- 
ulation  to  full  toleration  of  the  Roman  (Jatholic  worship; 
thouj^'h  that  instrument,  f)romisin^'  to  all  religious  com- 
munities the  continu(!d  enjoyment  of  their  property,  had 
distinctly  njfused  to  assure  th<j  tithes  or  other  dues  of  the 
secular  clerj^y.'  Th*;  {jlcflge  of  tfjieration  was  incorf)orat(id 
in  the  IV.  Art.  f>l'th(i  treaty  of  Paris  in  ITOIi  by  the  followinj^ 
clause:  "His  Jiritannif:  Majesty  on  his  side  agrees  to  f^rant 
the  liberty  of  the  Catholic  religion  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Canada:  he  will  con.sequently  give  the  most  precise  and  j;f- 
fectual  orders,  that  his  new  ]{oman  CJatholic  subjects  may 
profess  the  worshij)  of  their  religion,  according  to  the  rites 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  (Jhurch,  as  far  as  th(j  laws  of  (ireat 
Britain  pr;rmit. "  This  is  id<intically  the  same  stipulation, 
(in  slightly  dilTerent  words),  as  that  in  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht 
fifty  years  before;-  h)ut  it  will  be  noticed  that  strictly  in- 
terpreted it  does  not  seem  at  first  sight  to  be  the  same  con- 
cession as  that  made  in  the  Articles  of  Capitulation.  It  is 
impossible  to  delay  on  the  rjuestions  as  to  how  far  the  strict 
interpretation  of  the  then  existing  laws  would  have  in- 
terfered with  "  the  liberty  (jf  the  Catholic  religion,"  or  how 
far  those  laws  were  at  that  time  enforced  at  honje  or  were 

1  Ciipitiilatiofi  of  Moiitri'iil,  Art.  27,  'M,    HouHtori,  Cun.  ennui.  l><iiiini>  nln,  i>v.  4!j,  47. 

''Hi-M  L<fcky,  lIUltiTu  (if  h'nulftnil  In  Ilif  ihIIi  ('i-iihir/j,  I,  iih  lo  tlK^Kciji^rnl  ruH^iiihliinco 
of  tlmw  triiaticK,  H):<-  alwi  Miirri«)t,  Cml)-  nf  f^iirn.  It  in  riitlir-r  ciirioiiK  t.liiit,  flioii«l'  "li- 
ri'Ct.ly  co/iiiiariiiK  thi- tn^atii'H,  Mr.  LircUy  failn  to  k'i:  llwtt  llii^  i-arliiT  oim  coutaini' Iir<f- 
ciwily  the,  jjnnihioij  wliicli  In-  rcforh  to  ah  fiiarkiiiK,  Wfly  y<-ari-  IuUt,  ai<  ir|xjcli  of  r«liK- 
iouK  lib<:rty. 


434  Bulletin  of  the  UNivERsiTr  of  wiscoNsm. 

valid  in  America.'  Of  rigid  construction  there  was  no  real 
question  in  the  case  of  Canada,  and  it  will  appear  later  that 
there  is  no  evidence  of  the  slightest  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  British  government  throughout  the  period  to  interfere 
with  full  religious  liberty,  or  with  the  establishments  nec- 
essary for  its  effective  maintenance.  But  that  the  above 
phrase,  "as  far  as  the  laws  of  Great  Britain  jjerrait, "  was 
by  no  means  an  unconsidered  one,  but  was  intended  at  least 
at  first  to  have  a  very  definite  significance,  is  clearly  shown 
by  a  very  important  communication  from  the  Earl  of  Egre- 
mont,  vSecretary  of  State,  to  Murray,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  latter's  appointment  to  the  new  civil  Government  in 
Quebec  (Aug.  13th,  1703).-  The  new  governor  is  instructed 
in  this  that  information  has  been  received  which  causes  a 
suspicion  that  the  French  have  hopes  of  using  the  religious 
liberty  promised  the  Canadians  for  the  retaining  through 
the  clergy  of  their  hold  upon  the  people,  and  that  he  is 
therefore  to  be  on  his  guard  against  any  such  attempts. 
The  King,  (the  Minister  continues),  has  no  intention  of  re- 
straining the  Canadians  in  the  free  exorcise  of  their  religion, 
but  the  condition  o.s  /«>•  as  the  laics  of  Great  Britain  liermit 
must  always  be  remembered;  these  laws  prohibiting  abso- 
lutely "  all  Popish  Hierarchy  in  any  of  the  dominions  be- 
longing to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain. "  "  This  matter  was 
clearly  understood  in  the  negotiations  of  the  Definitive 
Treaty.  The  French  Minister  proposed  to  insert  the  words 
comnie  ci  devant,  in  order  that  the  "Romish  religion  should 
continue  to  be  exercised  in  the  same  manner  as  under  their 
Government;  and  they  did  not  give  up  the  point  until  they 
were  plainly  told  that  it  would  only  be  deceiving  them  to 
admit  these  words,  for  the  King  had  no  power  to  tolerate 

1  It  is  perh.ips  worth  uotinij  that  among  thti  list  of  convicttxl  crimiual.-i  in  Great  Britain 
in  1771  is  fou  id  tho  naino  of  onR  John  Baptist  MaUinoy,  who  was  sentenced  to  porpetual 
imprisonment  for  the  crini«  of  exercising  the  ottice  of  a  Popish  priest.  He  was  after- 
wards pardoned  on  condition  of  leaving  the  country.  Cali-ndar  o/  Hume  Office  Pitpera 
1770-2,  No.  376. 

"Can.  Arch.,  Q.I.  p.  117. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OK  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  435 

that  religion  in  any  other  manner  than  as  far  as  the  laws  of 
Great  Britain  permit.  These  laws  must  be  your  guide  in 
any  disputes  that  may  arise  on  the  subject. "  It  is  clear  from 
this  that  the  French  Government  desired  the  words  connne 
i'i  devant  to  be  inserted  instead  of  the  phrase  in  question, 
and  that  the  object  of  that  phrase  was  merely  to  deprive 
the  Catholic  religion  of  any  legal  status  or  hierarchy  in  the 
Province.  Taken  in  this  connection  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  Treaty  was  really  intended  to  grant  all  that  had  been 
promised  in  the  Capitulation.'  And  the  principles  thus 
clearly  stated  at  the  start,  we  tind  adhered  to  throughout 
the  period  with  more  vigor  and  consistency  than  can  be 
discovered  in  any  other  part  of  the  Canadian  policy. 

In  the  above  letter  Egremont  goes  on  to  advise  Murray 
to  give  public  notice  that  no  new  foreign  priests  would  be 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  country  without  Governmental 
permission,  and  also  to  require  all  ecclesiastics  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance.  The  following  October  25,  Murray  writes 
as  to  the  general  subject  of  religious  policy,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the^  transmission  home  of  religious  petitions,- 
which  he  reports  as  due  to  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  Cana- 
dians as  to  the  continuance  of  the  priesthood.  If  this,  he 
says,  be  provided  for,  they  would  part  with  the  hierarchy 
without  much  reluctance;  and  he  suggests  a  plan  for  hav- 
ing priests  educated  in  Provincial  seminaries  as  heretofore, 
and  ordained  abroad  at  the  public  expense, —  a  plan  which 

I  As  to  tho  opinion  that  tho  law.s  did  not  prohibit  tho  free  oxorciyo  of  tlio  Roman  Cath- 
olic religion,  and  that  it  was  at  the  discretion  of  the  crown  whether  Catholics  in  the 
uewly  acquired  colonies  sliould  be  admitted  to  office  and  lionors,  see  Att. -General  Yorke's 
opinion  eoncoruins  the  position  in  rei^ard  to  otlico  of  the  Catliolics  in  (ireaada.  (Co/. 
Jiomi'  <)J)l('V  Pnj>i'rs,  1776-9,  No.  W3.)  This  opinion  is  fuitlier  of  great  interest  in  view  of 
the  question  as  to  tho  formation  of  an  Assembly  in  Canada,  and  tlie  admission  of  Roman 
Catholics  to  it.  It  statesclearly  that  the  statubi  requiring  the  transubstantiatiou  test 
oath  does  not  apply  to  tlie  new  possessions,  and  that  his  Majesty  is  tlii>  only  judge  in  re- 
gard to  the  use  of  such.  Tills  should  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  opinion  of 
Lecky  as  to  the  importance  of  the  Q\)ebec  .\ct  in  religious  history.  On  the  general  (juestion 
as  to  tho  position  of  Catholics  see  further,  opinion  of  Thurlow  and  Wedderbonrno,  (Cnl. 
Home  Ojfflci'  Pain-rs,  1770-'^,  Nos.  6!i9,  713) ;  Report  of  Wedderbourne,  1772  (Christie,  ffi.i- 
tory  of  Li > (VI' r  Canadu,  I.  c,  Z) ;  Marriott,  Code  of  Laws. 

'See  above,  p. liW. 


436  HDI.LETIN  or  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  WISCONSIN. 

he  thinks  "  the  most  feasible  means  of  procuring  a  national 
clergy,  without  continuing  a  Bishop,  "  and  likely  to  give 
"  universal  satisfaction  and  make  the  Canadians  in  time 
forget  their  former  connexions.' '  To  these  suggestions 
Halifax  (Jan.  14,  1764)-  makes  the  guarded  reply  that  he 
hopes  soon  to  transmit  definite  directions  on  "  that  very 
Important  and  difficult  matter."  We  meet  nothing  further 
directly  on  this  point,  but  that  Murray's  suggestions  were 
not  taken  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  Bishop  for  the  pro- 
vince was  allowed  to  be  ordained  in  France  in  1766,  (the 
permission  seems  to  have  been  given  as  early  as  1764),  and 
to  proceed  to  Quebec  in  the  same  year;  continuing  there  at 
the  head  of  the  church  for  the  remainder  of  the  period. 
There  is  some  mystery  about  this  transaction,  and  Maseres 
asserts  that  the  Bishop  had  only  a  verbal  permission  to  as- 
sume authority,  and  that  he  was  supposed  to  have  prom- 
ised to  confine  himself  to  the  necessary  and  inoffensive 
duties  of  the  office,  (which  promise,  he  adds,  was  not  kept). 
The  English  government,  according  to  Maseres,  was 
brought  thus  to  "  connive "  at  this  evasion  of  the  laws 
under  the  opinion  that  the  step  was  necessary  to  secure  to 
the  Canadians  the  enjoyment  of  their  religion  without  giving 
loopholes  for  the  creeping  in  of  foreign  influences.  But 
that  this  was  regarded  as  only  a  temporary  step  is  shown 
by  a  Board  of  Trade  report  on  the  state  of  Quebec,  May 
16, 1766,  in  which  the  "  unsettled  state  of  eclesiastical  affairs  " 
is  designated  as  the  first  of  the  matters  requiring  attention.^ 
In  Oct.,  1767,  Carleton  recommends  the  appointment  of  a 
coadjutor  in  order  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  having  the 
Bishop  consecrated  abroad;  a  recommendation  which  the 
Secretary  approved  (March  6,  1768),*  but  which  was  re- 
ferred with  others  to  the  shortly  expected  regulations  about 
religious  matters  in  general.  In  1772  however,  the  matter  came 

'Can.  Arcli.,Q.l,p.  251. 
"Ibid-.Q.  2,  p.  3. 
3  Ibid.,  Q.  3,  p.  5;). 
Ubid.,Q.  5-1:  p.  34-3. 


COKKIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEIJEO,    17(J0-76.  437 

up  again  in  the  absence  of  Carleton,  and,  like  the  appointment 
of  the  Bishop,  seems  to  have  been  temporarily  sett.ed  by 
another  connivance,  (in  this  case  only  of  the  Provincial  gov- 
ernment), at  an  evasion  of  the  laws;  the  Lt.  Governor 
writing  (July  25,  1772),  that  as  the  Bishop  had  lately  obtained 
"  the  requisite  power  for  consecrating  the  coadjutor  whom 
Gov.  Carleton  had  pitched  upon,  I  agreed  to  his  perform- 
ing the  ceremony,  but  in  a  private  way,  because  it  was  not 
the  act  of  government,  and  to  avoid  giving  a  handle  to 
busy  and  troublesome  people. " '  To  which  Hillsborough 
replied,  Sept.  2,  1772:  "Your  having  permitted  the  per- 
son styling  himself  Bishop  of  Quebec  to  consecrate  a 
coadjutor  in  consequence  of  power  which  you  say  he  had 
received  for  that  purpose,  and  which  I  presume  must  there- 
fore mean  from  some  foreign  ecclesiastical  authority,  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance,  and 
the  more  so  as  I  do  not  find  upon  the  fullest  examination 
that  any  authority  whatever  has  at  any  timi'  been  given  by 
His  Majesty  for  the  exercise  within  the  colony  of  any 
powers  of  Episcopacy  in  matters  relative  to  the  religion  of 
the  Church  of  Rome. "  -'  Hillsborough  was  shortly  after  re- 
placed by  Dartmouth,  and  the  latter  writes  Dec.  9,  1772  in 
a  similar  strain,  declining  to  give  any  countenance  to  the 
late  consecration  of  the  coadjutor,  and  making  the  matter 
depend  on  the  deliberations  of  the  Privy  Council  then  pend- 
ing; though  he  adds  that  he  will  not  undertake  to  say  that 
the  exercise  of  some  Episcopal  authority  may  not  be  nec- 
essary to  the  toleration  granted. ' 

During  the  whole  of  the  period  the  power  of  appoint- 
ment to  benefices  resided  in  the  Governor  alone,  having 
been  first  granted  to  Murray,  in  1763.  The  instructions  to 
Carleton  in  1768  direct  him  "  not  to  admit  of  any  ecclesiasti- 
cal jurisdiction  of  the  See  of  Rome  or  any  other  ecclesias- 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  160. 
»  Ibid.,  Q.  8,  p.  166. 
'Ibid.,  p.  2m 


438  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVKRSITV   OF  WISCONSIN. 

tical  jurisdiction  whatever," — an  instruction  which  would 
seem  to  be  in  direct  opposition  to  the  continuance  of  the 
functions  of  a  French  ordained  Bishop.  Another  article 
ordered  him  to  provide  for  the  j?radual  settlement  of  Prot- 
estant clergymen;  and  it  was  no  doubt  as  a  foUowinfij  up 
of  this  that  in  July  1768  a  mandate  was  issued  to  him  to 
appoint  under  commission  two  such  to  the  parishes  of 
Quebec  and  Three  Rivers,  to  enjoy  the  same  during  life, 
"  with  all  rights,  dues,  profits  and  privileges  thereunto 
belonging  in  as  full  and  ample  manner  as  the  ministers  of 
churches  in  any  of  our  colonies  in  America. " '  But  Carle- 
ton,  viewing  this  as  a  "  stile  of  office "  due  to  carelessness, 
remonstrated  against  it  as  extending,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Provincial  lawyers.  "  to  dispossess  the  i)eople  of  their  pri- 
vate churches  and  their  clergy  of  their  tithes  and  all  pa- 
rochial dues,"  and  gave  the  clergymen  simply  licenses  to 
preach,  with  a  right  to  such  dues  only  as  should  arise 
from  Protestants  under  the  laws  relating  to  the  Church  of 
England.-  This  action  was  apparently  approved  of  by  the 
home  Government,  the  Secretary  writing  that  there  had 
been  no  intention  of  authorizing  the  general  demand  of 
tithes, '  as  had  been  shown  by  the  attachment  of  a  stipend 
out  of  the  general  revenue. 

On  the  verge  of  the  Quebec  Act,  Dec.  1st,  1773,  Dart- 
mouth writes  that  the  coming  settlement  will  give  all  sat- 
isfaction to  the  new  subjects  on  the  head  of  religion,  but 
on  such  a  basis  that  all  foreign  jurisdiction  shall  be  abol- 
ished and  the  Province  itself  made  equal  to  the  supplying 
of  all  the  essentials  to  free  worship  in  the  true  spirit  of 
the  treaty.*  The  settlement  thus  foreshadowed  —  that  of 
the  Quebec  Act, —  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  policy  thus 
clearly  maintained  down  to  its  enactment,  cannot  be  said  to 
depart  from  it,  the  Article  (5th)  which  provides  for  "  the  free 

'  Mas^res,  ('oi)utiissio)i.'<,  p,  14.S-K. 
'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p,  Ti6-TM. 
'Ibid.,  Q.  5-2,  p,  756. 
<Ibid.,  Q.  9,  p.,  157. 


COFKIN — THE   T'ROVINCK  OK  QtrEnEC,    17<!0-7«1.  489 

exercise  of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  "  expressly 
adding,    "  subject  to  the  King's  sui)remacy  declared  and 
established  by  an  Act  made  in  tlio  first  year  of  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth."     Nor  can  it  be  regarded  as  "estab- 
lishing" the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  any  sense  in  which 
the  Ciiurch  of  England  was  not  also  established.     For  the 
only  now  privilege  bestowed  on  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
is  comprised  in  the  phrase,  "  the  clergy  of  the  said  Church 
may  hold,  receive,  and  enjoy  their  accustomed  dues  and 
rights  in  respect  to  such  persons  only  as  shall  profess  the 
said   religion,  ' — a   i)hrase  which   has  always   been   inter- 
preted as  implying   the  re-establishment   of    compulsory 
tithes;  while  the  next  article  goes  on  to  make  provision 
for  the  a])plying  "of  the  rest  of  the  said  accustomed  dues 
and  rights"  (i.e.  the  tithes  of  Protestants),  to  the  support 
and  encouragement  of  tlie  Protestant   religion.     And  that 
the  intent  of  the  framers  of  the  Act  did  not  reach  even  to 
thus  equalizing  the  two  Churches  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
ensuing  instructions  to  Carletou  1775.    The  20th  Article  en- 
joins him  to  remember  "  that  it  is  a  toleration  of  the  free 
exercise  of  the   religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome  only  to 
which  they   [the  new  subjects]  are  entitled,  but  not  to  the 
powers  and  privileges  o'"  it  as  an  established  Church,  which 
belongs  only  to  the  Protestant  Church  of  England."     The 
21st  Article  further  forbids  all  appeals  to  or  correspondence 
with  any  foreign  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  makes  govern- 
ment  license    essential    in  every  case   to  the  exercise  of 
Episcopal  or  parochial  functions,  and  conditions  the  hold- 
ing of  all  benefices  on  good  behavior,     I  cannot  here  enter 
fully  into  the  legal  question  of  the  peculiar   relative  posi- 
tions thus  apparently  granted   the  two  churches;  it    must 
be  left  with  the  remark  that  it  is  the  very  evident  inten- 
tion of  the  Administration,  as  shown  in  the  Governors  in- 
structions and  elsewhere,  to  make  the  Church  of  England 
theoretkallii  the  Established  Church  for  the  whole  Province, 
and  effectually  so  wherever  the  field  was  not  already  in 


440  BULLETIN  OK  THE  UNIYEH8ITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

possession  of  or  could  be  pradualiy  secured  from,  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Thus  provision  is  made  that  a  Protest- 
ant minister  should  be  appointed  to  any  i)arish  in  which 
the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  should  solicit  it,  and  that 
the  appointee  sViould  receive  "all  tithes  i)ayablo  in  such 
parish; "  as  also  that  all  rents  and  protits  of  vacant  bene- 
fices should  be  applied  to  the  support  of  a  Protestant 
clergy.'  Any  introduction  of,  or  correspondence  with,  for- 
eign ecclesiastical  jurisdictions,  was  strictly  prohibited,  no 
Episcopal  or  Vicarial  powers  bein*?  allowed  to  be  exer- 
cised by  |Roman  Catholics  except  such  as  were  indispens- 
ably necessary  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion.  And  even 
these  were  to  be  exercised  only  by  Governmental  license 
"  during  our  will  and  pleasui'e, "  in  correspondence  with 
"  the  spirit  and  provisions  of  the  Quebec  Act; "  such  license 
being  made  essential  to  all  ordination  or  holding  of 
benefices.  Benefices  were  to  be  conferred  only  on  Cana- 
dians born,  and  the  Governor  and  Council  had  power  of 
suspension  in  case  of  criminal  offenses  or  of  treason. 

These  provisions  show  in  brief  that  the  determination  to 
allow  none  but  strictly  religious  privileges  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  in  the  Province,  which  had  been  insisted  upon  in  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  was  not  less  strongly  incorporated  in  the 
Quebec  Act  and  its  accompaniments;  and  therefore,  that 
instead  of  that  Act  being  the  complete  surrender  to  the 
Church  of  Rome  it  appeared  to  Protestant  contemporaries 
and  has  often  been  represented  since,  that  Church  was 
granted  no  new  privileges  beyond  the  securing  to  it  of  sup- 
port/rw/i  its  own  adherents.  It  was  a  change  that  affected 
only  these  adherents,  changing  for  them  a  voluntary  into 
a  compulsory  burden;  a  change  the  political  results  of 
which  will  be  elsewhere  discussed.-    Briefly  it  seems  prac- 

'  It  will  be  seen  that  both  of  these  provisions  discriminate  in  favor  of  the  Church  of 
Enpland  against  the  Church  of  Rome;  the  latter  not  being  allowed  under  any  circum- 
stanceB  to  take  tithes  from  Protestants  or  to  receive  anytliing  from  vacant  benefices, 
which  remained  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  the  Protestant  executive. 

=  See  below,  Chapter  VI.  A. 


COFFIN — TIIK   PROVINCE  OK  QUEBEC,    17t)0-76.  441 

tically  accurate  to  put  the  matter  thus:  The  tithe  was  by 
the  Act  attached  to  all  land  as  a  state  exaction,  that  por- 
tion of  it  paid  by  adhorents  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
beinj?  applied  to  tho  support  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy,  tho  remainder,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Govern- 
ment, to  the  support  of  a  Protestant  clorncy.  But  the  en- 
suing instructions  to  the  Governor,  (apparently  without 
authorization  in  the  Act),'  further  divert  to  the  benefit  of 
the  Protestant  Church  all  the  profits  of  vacant  benefices, 
and  (til  the  tithes  of  parishes  where  the  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants were  or  should  become  Protestant. 

What  light  do  the  debates  on  the  Act  throw  on  these 
arrangements?  On  the  whole  they  lead  to  no  conclusion 
opposed  to  tliose  drawn  from  tho  examination  of  the  earlier 
policy.  But  they  do  not  increase  our  estimation  of  the  care 
or  the  clearsightedness  of  the  framers  of  the  bill.  As 
first  introduced  the  religious  enactment  embraced  only  the 
5th  Art.  of  the  final  Act,  no  mention  thus  being  made  of 
the  Protestant  Church,  and  no  limitation  being  placed  on 
the  clause  "subject  to  the  King's  supremacy."  Considerable 
battle  raged  around  the  question  as  to  whether  or  no 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  really  established.  Lord 
North  maintained  that  no  more  was  done  than  was  required 
by  the  Treaty  with  regard  to  the  free  exercise  of  the  faith, 
and  that  Papal  authority  in  the  Province  would  certainly 
not  be  permitted;-'  the  Solicitor  General  stated  that  he 
could  see  no  more  in  the  bill  than  a  toleration,  with  the 
clergy  made  dependent  on  the  State  rather  than  on  the 
people.'  In  answer  to  the  charge  that  nothing  had 
been  done  for  the  Protestant  Church  Lord  North  brought 
into  the  committee  the  amendment  in  favor  of  that  Church 
which  forms  Art.  VI  of  the  Act,  characterizing  this  as  an 
establishment.     Some  further  debate  took  place  as  to  the 

'  It  would  semn  as  if  Weddorbouruo  the  Solicitor  Geueral  was  respousible  for  at  least 
the  latter  clause.    See  Cavendish,  Report,  p.  218. 
"  Cavrndinh.  p,  10. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  54. 


442  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY    OP   WISCONSIN. 

royal  suj^^remacy '  and  at  the  next  sitting  the  Government 
brought  in  the  amendment  which  lorms  Art.  VII,  and 
wh"ch  apparently  goes  far  to  nullify  the  "supremacy" 
clause  of  Art.  V.  This  however  was  undoubtedly  consid- 
ered as  necessary  to  full  toleration  and  as  not  diminishing 
the  hold  of  government  over  the  Church,- and  was  agreed 
to  without  a  division. '  It  is  probable  that  the  conciliatory 
and  hazy  attitude  of  the  Government  on  this  part  of  tho 
bill  was  due  to  a  consciousness  of  the  strong  position  of 
the  opposition  from  a  popular  standpoint.  This  aspect  of 
the  situation  was  wittily  referred  to  by  Barr6  in  a  passing 
reference*  to  the  rumored  impending  dissolution  of  Parlia- 
ment. "People  may  say  "  he  remarked,  "upon  its  dissolu- 
tion as  they  did  after  the  death  of  King  Charles,  that  by 
some  papers  found  after  its  decease,  there  is  great  reason 
to  suspect  that  it  died  in  the  profession  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion."  A  privy  councillor  retorted  that  the 
parallel  at  least  held  good  in  the  circumstance  that  the  dying 
Parliament,  like  the  dying  Catholic,  was  "attended  by  a 
number  of  troublesome  people,  disposed  to  put  many 
troublesome  questions. " 

The  above  examination  will  cause  it  to  appear  very 
doubtful  if  the  position  of  the  Church  was  really  much  im- 
proved by  the  enactment,  supposing  the  latter  to  be 
rigidly  applied.  Apart  from  the  effects  with  regard  to 
the  attitude  of  the  people  referred  to  above,  there  were 
new    elements    indeed    of    positive    disadvantage.       The 

'  In  which  occurred  one  of  the  most  violent  attacks  on  the  "secret  desiRns"  of  the  bill 
that  we  meet  with.  Tlie  assailant  was  Barr^,  who  pointed  to  the  indulgences  given  the 
Roman  Catliolics  as  confirming  his  suspicions,  and  warned  the  Government  that  "if  you 
are  about  to  raise  a  Popisli  army  to  serve  in  the  colonies,— from  this  time  all  hope  of 
peace  in  America  will  be  destroyed.  ...  I  smelt  out  this  business  from  the  be- 
ginning." TImrlow,  who  followed  the  irate  Colonel,  took  no  notice  whatever  of  the 
insinuation.    Carfndi.ih,  p. '228. 

'  As  shown  above  by  the  lat«r  instructions  to  the  Governor. 

Tarendish,  pp.  250-1.  Wlien  the  Bill  went  back  to  the  Lords  this  last  amendment 
however  received  the  esi)ocially  hostile  notice  of  Lord  Chatham,  wlio  declared  it  offen- 
sive as  an  attack  on  the  Great  Charter  or  the  Bill  of  Rights.  Lord  Lyttleton  replied 
forcibly  that  full  toleration  could  not  exist  without  the  clause. 

*  Ibkl.,  p.  239. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  443 

clergy  were  now  legally  assured  of  support;  but  that  sup- 
port, we  are  frequently  told, '  had  been,  since  the  conquest, 
quite  as  assured  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  a  pious 
people,  over  the  recalcitrant  of  whom  might  still  be  exer- 
cised, in  the  generally  hazy  state  of  the  ecclesiastical  powers, 
a  great  share  of  the  many-sided  authority  so  abundantly 
wielded  under  the  old  regime.  Now  however  the  Quebec  Act 
had  strictly  and  narrowly  defined  the  real  position  and 
power  of  the  Church;  it  had  stripped  it  of  nearly  every 
vestige  of  its  old  temporal  prestige,  and  of  every  right  of 
pretension  to  any  but  a  strictly  religious  status.  Further, 
this  Act  had  in  all  probability  actually  diminished  the  rev- 
enues of  the  Church;  for  it  had  deprived  it  entirely  not 
only  of  all  right  to  dues  from  benefices  unfilled,  (and  the 
filling  of  vacancies  was  in  the  hands  of  a  Government  or- 
dered to  lose  no  opportunity  of  securing  the  advancement 
of  the  Protestant  religion,''  to  whose  benefit  the  receipts 
from  such  vacancies  were  to  be  appropriated),  but  also  of 
all  right  to  dues  from  any  parish  in  which  a  majority  of 
Protestants  might  become  settled.  It  must  therefore  ap- 
pear that  the  apprehensions  of  the  Continental  Congress  as 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Popish  worship  were  unfounded; 
that  the  position  and  prospects  of  the  Church  through  the 
new  legislation,  especially  when  viewed  in  that  connection 
with  the  previous  policy  and  the  accompanying  instruc- 
tions which  shows  its  intent  and  the  spirit  in  which  it 
would  be  administered,  were  not  such  as  to  give  evidence 
of  an  exceptional  liberality  which  could  be  explained  only 
by  sinister  designs  against  the  other  colonies. ' 

'  Expressly  and  frequently  asserted  in  Quebec  Act  debate.  These  statements  must  be 
considered  very  cautiously  it  is  true ;  but  yet  there  seems  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Church  had  not  been  sufficiently  supported  throuKh  tlie  period. 

'For  the  intent  of  the  Government  on  this  point  see  Cavendish,  p.  219. 

^  The  above  examination  of  the  intentions  and  early  measures  of  the  BritisI  Govern- 
ment with  regard  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Canada  should  be  considered  in 
connection  with  the  later  position  assumed  by  that  Church.  This  later  position  has  no 
sufficient  support  in  the  Quebec  Act,  but  has  been  acquired  since,  in  direct  opposition  to 
some  of  its  most  impcrtant  provisions,  as  a  very  important  part  of  that  long  course  of 


444  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Further  light  will  be  thrown  on  this  matter  by  consider- 
ing the  parallel  course  of  the  Imperial  authorities  in  the 
Island  of  Granada.  This,  with  some  neighboring  islands, 
conquered  in  1762,  had  been  ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1763 
"in  full  right  .  .  .  with  the  same  stipulations  in  favor 
of  the  inhabitants  .  .  .  inserted  in  the  IV.  Art.  for 
those  of  Canada. " '  The  Royal  Proclamation  of  October,  1763, 
had  named  the  Government  of  Granada  as  the  fourth  of  the 
new  Governments  to  which  that  Proclamation  was  intended  to 
apply ;  and  civil  commissions  were  made  out  for  it  similar 
to  those  in  the  case  of  Quebec.  But  its  later  fortunes  had 
diverged  markedly  from  those  of  the  latter  Province,  in 
that  the  Assembly  promised  by  the  proclamation  and  di- 
rected by  the  commissions  was  actually  called  together  and 
constituted  in  1765,  at  which  time  "none  of  the  French 
Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  claimed  a  right  or  even  ex- 
pressed a  desire  of  becoming  members,  either  of  the  Coun- 
cil or  Assembly. "  '^  This  body,  evidently  entirely  English- 
speaking  in  composition,  acting  on  the  same  assumptions 
as  to  the  introduction  of  English  law  as  the  same  party  in 
Quebec,'  proceeded  at  once  to  pass  "an  Act  for  regulating 

revived  French  dovolopmont  of  which  the  Quebec  Act  was  the  basis.  In  other  words  the 
assumptions  from  which  that  measure  proceeded,  and  tlie  position  in  which  it  placed  the 
Province  with  reference  to  tlio  new  EnRlish  element,  were  made  by  the  Church  the  start- 
InK-point  of  a  brilliant  course  of  agsrandizemont ;  that  Church  becoming  therein  identi- 
fied with  the  revived  national  feelings  and  forces  wliose  growth  bore  it  in  turn  triumph- 
antly forward.  A  full  comment  on  this  is  of  course  impossible ;  but  it  will  be  instructive 
to  notice  the  words  of  the  most  authoritative  of  modem  French  Canadian  constitutional 
writers.  "  La  reserve  de  la  suprfmatie  spirituelle  du  roi  d'Anglet«rre  semble  avoir  4t6 
mise  dans  le  statut  de  1774  et  les  instructions  royalos  qui  suivirent  pour  la  forme.  Elle 
resta  lettre  morte.  Les  rfipresentants  du  iKJUvoir  coraprirent  que  tout«  tentative  pour 
I'imposer  &  la  colonic  resterait  sans  succfs.  L'acte  constitutionnell  [in  1791],  n'en  parle 
pas."  (Lareau,  Hist.  Droit  Canadieii,  II.  140).  It  was  at  the  period  of  the  war  of  1812  that 
the  preix>nderating  position  of  the  Church  whs  finally  and  firmly  secured.  By  that  time  it 
had  again  in  reality  taken  possession  of  the  once  almost  emancipated  French  Canadian, 
and  could  make  its  own  terms  with  the  government  which  seemed  so  dependent  upoa 
bis  loyalty. 

I  Treaty  of  Paris,  Art.  IX. 

»  Edwards,  HUtoryo/the  British  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  I,  p.  62  (Phila.,  1806). 

'  See  the  almost  contemporary  action  of  the  Grand  Jury  in  Quebec,  especially  with  re- 
gard to  the  protest  against  the  privileges  granted  to  Roman  Catholics.  The  "old  sub- 
ject"  element   in  the  Provinces  is  identical  in  spirit  and  aims,  with  the  diffttrenoa 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OP  'QUEBEC,    1760-76.  445 

the  elections  of  the  general  Assembly  of  Grenada  and  the 
Grenadines,  and  for  the  better  ascertaining  of  the  electors 
and  elected,"  which  required  all  members  of  the  Assembly 
to  subscribe  the  Declaration  against  Transubstantiation,' 
(no  such  restriction  being  placed  on  the  franchise  evi- 
dently). On  the  protest  of  the  French  inhabitants,-  the 
Board  of  Trade  intervened  against  this  and  other  Acts  of 
the  same  body,  by  a  Report  made  March  4,  1768,  in  which 
they  condemn  the  above  Act  as  tending  "to  give  disgust 
and  dissatisfaction  to  your  Majesty's  new  subjects,"  and 
state  that  the  test  there  required  "is  not  (as  we  conceive) 
extended  to  the  colonies  by  any  Act  of  Parliament,  and  is 
a  qualification  the  enforcing  of  which  is  entirely  left  to 
your  Majesty's  discretion."  This  recommendation  is  evi- 
dently based  on  the  opinion  of  Attorney-General  Yorke,  to 
whom  the  case  had  been  referred,^  and  as  the  result  the 
following  year  the  Governor  of  the  Island  received  royal 
instructions  to  admit  Roman  Catholics  into  both  Council 
and  Assembly  as  well  as  into  the  commission  of  the  peace, 
without  the  taking  of  the  test  oath  against  transubstanti- 
ation.*  This,  through  the  unbending  attitude  of  the  Protest- 
ant party,  gave  rise  to  such  bitter  political  contests  that 

that  in  Grenada  it  proved  more  uucompromisinK  and  intolerant.  This  distinction  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  facts,  (1)  that  representative  Government  had  been  put  in  force  in 
■Grenada  and  thereby  the  direct  control  of  the  executive  greatly  lessened,  (2)  that  in 
Grenada  the  British  wore  relatively  a  much  stronger  element.  In  1771  the  white  popu- 
lation of  the  Island  was  about  1,600,  (the  slave'population  being  nearly  40,000),  of  which, 
considering  the  analogy  of  Quebec,  a  very  considerable  section  must  in  1775  have  been 
English  speaking.    (Edwnrds,  I.  74) . 

1  See  an  anonymous  Pamphlet  entitled  "  Observations  upon  the  Report  made  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  against  the  Grenada  Laws."  (W.  Flexney,  London,  1770).  This  is  ably 
written,  from  the  standi)oint  of  the  British  p«rty  in  the  Province,  and  contains  the 
Board  of  Trade  Report  almost  in  full  apparently.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  it  else- 
where. 

"  Cnl,  Home  Office  Papers,Yim-9,  No.  403. 

^  Ibid.  It  is  uncertain  from  this  entry  whether  the  date  assigned,  (Jan.  12,  1767),  is 
tliat  of  the  reference  or  that  of  the  advice .  The  form  of  the  statement  of  the  case  would 
seem  to  show  that  the  referrers  were  decidedly  leaning  to  the  opinions  maintained  in  Mr. 
Yorke's  answer.  The  reference  is  endorsed,  "your  opinion  on  this  case  is  much  wanted." 
See  note  above  on  this  opinion,  p.  4:}5. 

*  Edwards,  West  Indies,  I.  62.    Southey,  West  Indien,  II.  395. 


446  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

representative  government  remained  practically  suspended 
throughout  the  rest  of  the  century.  Yet  the  Crown  per- 
sistently refused  to  revoke  the  objectionable  instructions, 
notwithstanding  the  strong  constitutional  arguments 
brought  against  them.'  As  to  the  general  treatment  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Grenada,  we  find  as  in  Canada, 
thai  the  treaty  engagement  of  full  toleration  was  liberally 
carried  out;  and  it  would  seem  moreover  that  it  was  not 
till  1783  that  any  step  was  taken  to  interfere  with  the  es- 
tablished interests  of  the  Church  of  Rome  or  to  further 
those  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  act  of  that  date  still 
providing  "  some  allowance  .  .  .  for  the  benefit  of  the 
tolerated  Romish  clergy. "  -  It  is  thus  evident  that  the  liberal 
attitude  of  the  ImiDerial  government  with  regard  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  was  not  peculiar  to  Quebec,  but 
that  it  had  been  initiated  earlier  and  extended  further  in 
a  non  continental  Province, — one  which  could  not  be  sup- 
posed as  ever  likely  to  be  in  a  position  to  affect  political 
conditions  among  the  older  colonies, —  than  in  that  one 
where  the  policy  was  regarded  as  inspired  by  deep  hostil- 
ity to  those  English-American  political  institutions  with 
which  the  Protestant  church  was  supposed  to  be  especially 
identified. 

The  only  conclusion  we  can  draw  therefore  on  this  point, 
is  the  one  to  which  we  have  been  led  by  our  examination 
of  the  earlier  policy;  namely  that  in  the  measures  of  1774 
with  regard  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Canada  the 
home  government  was  influenced  mainly  or  solely  by  the 

I  For  these  see  the  pamphlet  of  1770  referred  to  above.  There  would  seem  to  be  no  doubt, 
notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Yorke,  that  tlie  action  of  the  Crown  in  this  matter- 
was,  constitutionally,  altopether  indefensible,  and  indirectly  so  declared  by  the  Mans- 
field judgment  of  1774.  And  it  is  well  to  note  liere  what  I  shall  probably  refer  to  a^ain, 
that  the  consciousness  of  this  may  in  all  likelihood  be  discerned  behind  the  refusal  to 
take  similiar  action,  even  through  Parliament,  in  the  case  of  Quebec  before  or  at  the 
time  of  the  Quebec  Act.  It  is  rather  curious  that  no  pertinent  reference  to  the  Granada 
case  is  found  in  the  Quebec  Act  debates ;  though  that  the  action  of  the  Government  was 
carefully  observed  in  Quebec  itself  is  to  be  seen  from  the  petition  of  the  English- 
epeaking  party  there  in  1773.  --.--- 

»  Edwards,  ^yest  Itulies, 1,12. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  447 

necessity  of  maintaining  its  treaty  obligations,  and  by  the 
desire  to  protect  a  conquered  and  docile  people  from  the 
intolerance  of  a  political  party  which  it  believed  to  be 
identified  in  spirit  and  aim  with  the  objectionable  elements 
in  the  older  colonies.  That  this  latter  was  a  subsidiary 
and  minor  motive,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was 
no  general  spirit  of  religious  liberality  in  action,  is  shown 
by.  the  fact  that  the  general  liberal  attitude  and  the  partic- 
ular measures  alike,  were  confined  to  those  provinces 
with  regard  to  which  treaty  obligations  existed.  The 
"  case"  submitted  to  Yorke  in  1767  begins  with  a  distinct 
statement  that  "  in  the  Leeward  Island,  Barbadoes  and 
Jamaicas,  they  do  not  admit  a  person  to  be  of  the  Council, 
Assembly,  or  a  justice  of  the  Peace"  except  on  subscription 
to  the  declaration  against  transubstantiation ;  yet  nothing 
in  the  way  of  alleviation  was  done  or  hinted  at  in  regard 
to  these  cases.  I  can  therefore  see  no  sufficient  ground 
for  Lecky's  reference  to  the  Quebec  Act  as  marking  "  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  religious  liberty."  It  is  true  that 
by  that  Act,  as  in  the  Grenada  instructions,  more  was 
given  than  was  called  for  by  the  Treaty  obligations;  but 
these  additional  privileges  were  far  more  political  than 
religious  in  their  origin  and  intent.  In  the  case  of  Quebec, 
full  political  privileges  were  denied  expressly  on  religious 
grounds. 

As  to  the  measure  of  toleration  accorded  throughout  the 
period  to  the  Roman  Catholic  worship,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  was  complete.  The  faithful  and  even  gener- 
ous observance  of  the  Treaty  on  this  point  is  frequently 
acknowledged  in  the  native  petitions  and  calls  forth  the 
censure  of  the  Protestant  element.  Further,  whatever  may 
have  been  the  suggestions  of  individuals,  no  encroach- 
ments were  made  on  the  property  or  privileges  of  the 
Church  during  the  period.  Mas^res  expressly  asserts  that 
the  churches  and  chapels  were  left  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  Catholics  (town  Protestants  borrowing    them    on 


448  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

Sunday  for  an  hour) ,  their  priests  in  possession  of  the 
glebe  lands  and  parsonages,  and  all  old  ceremonies  and 
even  processions  continued  without  molestation.'  And 
though  the  assertions  of  the  same  writer  as  to  the  pomp 
and  importance  gradually  assumed  by  the  Bishop  and  the 
use  by  him  of  excommunication, 'etc.,  seem ^  undoubtedly 
an  exaggeration,  it  is  evident  that  the  confidence  of  the 
clergy  and  people  in  the  good  faith  of  the  conquerors  and  in 
their  liberal  interpretation  of  the  privileges  promised,  stead- 
ily increased.  The  genuineness  of  religious  toleration  is 
sufficiently  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  only  complaints  in 
regard  to  the  matter  that  we  meet  with  are  the  protests  of 
the  noblesse  against  their  own  exclusion  from  public  em- 
ployments through  the  oaths  required  of  all  officials.  The 
requirement  of  these  subsisted  unaltered  through  the 
whole  period,  they  being  given  a  prominent  place  in  Carle- 
ton's  instructions  of  1768.  But  considerable  latitude  must 
have  been  allowed  with  regard  to  them  in  the  case  of 
minor  officials,  for  we  find  several  of  the  smaller  offices  in 
the  possession  of  French  Canadian  Catholics.  We  have 
also  seen  above  that  Catholics  were  admitted  throughout 
the  period  on  juries  and  to  the  practise  of  the  law, —  an  indul- 
gence violently  condemned  by  the  English  grand  jurors  of 
1764,  as  contrary  to  the  constitution.  Outside  of  these 
few  exceptions  however,  the  religious  oaths  excluded  the 
French  Canadians  from  all  civil  and  military  employments, 
including  the  Council  and  the  possible  Assembly.  The  real 
importance  of  this  exclusion  is  with  regard  to  its  influence 
(elsewhere  discussed),  upon  the  establishment  of  represen- 
tative institutions. 

1  Carleton  distinctly  confirms  this  by  saying  that  the  Bishop  had  of  his  own  will  lessened 
the  number,  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  6,  p.  54).  Some  interesting  testimony  on  this  matter  will 
be  found  in  the  introductory  memor  to  the  Life  of  John  Carroll,  (Md.  Hist.  Soc.,  1878, 
pp.  aO-:U) .  It  is  there  asserted  that  Carroll's  mission  in  1776  to  the  Canadian  clergy 
failed  because  of  theii  entire  satisfaction  with  the  treatment  of  the  Church  by  the 
British  authorities ;  a  conspicuous  instance  of  the  latter's  attitude  being  afforded  by 
the  statement  of  the  Canadian  clergy  that  the  "government  actually  furnished  a  mili- 
tary escort  to  accompany  the  grand  procession  on  the  festival  of  Corpus  Christi."  . 
.  '  See  letter  of  Carleton  just  referred  to. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-76.        449 

Though  not  of  much  interost  to  us  now,  a  prominent 
part  of  the  problem  connected  with  the  treatment  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  in  the  Province  had  reference  to  the 
communities  of  regular  clergy,  and  especially  the  Jesuits. 
These  communities  however  were  not  an  essential  part  of 
the  religious  organization,  and  had  not  the  hold  upon  the 
people  which  would  make  their  fate  a  matter  of  national 
concern.'  Nor  was  Great  Britain's  attitute  toward  the 
Jesuits  different  than  that  of  contemporary  powers,  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant.  Their  great  power  under  the  old 
regime  has  been  graphically  described  by  Parkman;  but  it 
had  been  declining  for  some  time  previous  to  the  conquest, 
and  at  this  time  the  vigor  and  possessions  of  the  Society 
were  much  inferior  to  those  of  the  Sulpitians  or  Recollets 
at  Montreal, — an  order  which  was  much  more  favourably 
looked  upon  by  the  government  from  the  first.  The  34th 
Art.  of  the  capitulation  of  Montreal  would  seem  indeed 
(unless  it  is  to  be  construed  in  connection  with  the  preced- 
ing one),  to  promise  the  possession  of  their  property  to  all  the 
communities;  but,  though  the  Order  was  not  suppressed 
till  1773,  it  is  evident  that  the  home  Government  from 
the  first  looked  upon  the  possessions  of  the  Jesuits  as  its 
own.  At  the  beginning  of  the  civil  government  Murray  was 
directed  to  prevent  further  additions  to  it  or  to  the  other 
orders, —  a  direction  which  was  repeated  more  positively 
later  and  strictly  followed  through  the  whole  period. 
In  the  instructions  to  the  Receiver -General  in  1766  he  is 
ordered,  "whereas  the  lands  of  several  religious  societies 
in  the  said  Province,  particularly  those  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  are,  or  will  become,  part  of  His  Majesty's  revenue," 
to  endeavour  by  peaceful  agreement  to  get  these  into  his 
present  charge  in  order  to  prevent  any  losses  thereto.  In 
1767  Shelbourne  writes^  that  the  property  of  the  Jesuits, 
(which  has  been  represented  as  producing  £4,000  per  an- 
num),  "must  become  on  their  demise  a  very  considerable 

1  S«e  Murray's  Report,  176? , 

oTo  Carleton,  November  U.    (Cao,  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p,  298.) 


450  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

revenue  to  the  Province,  in  case  His  Majesty  should  be 
pleased  to  cede  it  for  that  purpose. "  To  which  Carleton 
replies '  that  the  order  he  is  convinced  is  in  reality  poor, 
their  lands  yielding  very  little  and  their  total  income 
being  given  by  themselves  as  22,658  livres,  from  which 
they  have  19  persons  to  support.  All  the  legal  opinions  of 
the  time  supported  the  view  that  the  property  held  by  the 
Jesuits  had  become  legally  vested  in  the  Crown ;  and  in  the 
instructions  to  Carleton  of  1775  it  is  declared  that  the 
Society  is  "suppressed  and  dissolved  and  no  longer  con- 
tinued as  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  and  all  their  rights, 
possessions  and  property  shall  be  vested  in  us  for  such 
puriioses  as  we  may  hereafter  think  fit  to  direct  and  ap- 
point. "  But  the  remaining  members  of  the  order  in 
Canada  were  to  be  supported  out  of  this  property  for  the 
rest  of  their  lives,  and  it  was  not  till  the  death  of  the  last 
one  in  1800,  that  the  lands  actually  came  into  full  use  as 
part  of  the  state  revenue. 

c.  Civil  Law.  The  third  feature  of  the  Quebec  Act  which 
requires  our  consideration  is  that  one  which  is  described 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  the  "  abolishing  the 
free  system  of  English  law. "  It  is  expressed  in  that  clause 
of  Art.  VIII  which  directs  that  "in  all  matters  of  contro- 
versy relative  to  property  and  civil  rights  resort  shall  be 
had  to  the  laws  [and  customs]  of  Canada  as  the  rule  for  the 
decision  of  the  same  ,  .  .  until  they  shall  be  varied  or  al- 
tered by  any  Ordinance  that  shall  from  time  to  time  be  passed 
in  the  said  Province.  '  This  provision  was  modified  by  Art. 
IX,  directing  that  all  royal  land  grants,  past  or  future,  in 
free  and  common  soccage,  should  be  exempt  from  its  op- 
eration, and  by  the  provision  of  Art.  X,  that  the  execu- 
tion and  administration  of  wills  should  proceed,  at  dis- 
cretion, according  to  either  English  or  French  law 

A  reference  to  the  former  discussion  as  to  the  adminis- 

i  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  590;  Q.  6,  p.  109. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-70.  451 

tration  of  justice  in  the  Province  throughout  the  period' 
will  be  sufficient  to  show  the  inaccuracy  of  the  word  "abol- 
ishing" in  regard  to  the  effect  of  this  clause;  further 
on  I  shall  examine  the  above  modifying  provisions 
in  the  light  of  later  instructions  and  enactments,  with 
a  view  to  determining  how  far  English  law  was  now 
abandoned  or  excluded.  My  object  at  present  is  to  scrut- 
inize this  provision  in  the  light  of  previous  policy,  with 
regard  especially  to  that  origin  in  and  reference  to  the  mo- 
mentary relations  with  the  other  colonies  s*^  freely  asserted 
by  the  revolutionary  leaders.  It  is  evident  that  these  lead- 
ers held  the  same  views  concerning  the  intent  and  legal  ef- 
fect of  the  Proclamation  of  1763  and  the  accompanying  doc- 
uments as  did  the  English-speaking  party  in  Canada.  In 
the  general  treatment  of  the  matter  above  there  was  quoted 
that  remarkable  statement  from  Hillsborough  of  the  ab- 
sence of  any  intention  of  the  overturning  of  French  law  on 
the  part  of  the  framers  of  these  documents.  This  emphatic 
testimony  is  supported  from  other  sources,  and  must  be 
taken  at  least  to  show  that,  even  at  the  beginning,  there 
was  no  deliberate,  intelligent  purpose  of  suddenly  substi- 
tuting English  for  French  law.  The  acts  of  omission  or 
commission  from  'vhieh  such  an  inference  was  drawn  may 
be  much  more  reasonably  sxplained  as  evidences  only  of 
ignorance,  neglect,  and  indecision.  But  this  state  of  affairs 
cannot  be  held  to  have  continued  longer  than  the  first  two 
years  of  civil  goveri  ment  (1764-G).  The  administration  in 
the  province  had  soon  become  convinced  that  any  violent 
assimilation  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  Canada  to  those  of 
the  other  provinces  was  radically  unjust  and  impolitic,  if 
not  also  impossible.  This  conviction  we  find  expressed  in 
protests  to  the  home  government,  and  in  increasingly  lib- 
eral interpretations  of  the  documents  by  which  the  Provin- 
cial officials  felt  themselves  trammelled.  Murray  writes 
March  3,  1765,  to  the  Board  of  Trade  concerning  the  great 

1  See  above,  Chapter  III,  Section  C. 


452  BULLETIN  OF  THE  nNlVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

difficulties  wbich  occur  "in  establishing  the  English  laws 
in  this  colony,  "  and  proceeds  to  a  general  description  of 
the  state  of  the  colony  "where  the  English  laws  are  to  be 
established,  '  in  which  he  displays  a  marked  sympathy  with 
the  French  and  a  strong  distaste  for  the  task  which  he 
thinks  has  been  laid  upon  him.'  This  repre.sentation  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  effectual  in  eliciting  any  definite  or 
different  explanation  of  the  Proclamation  of  1763,  or  any 
general  statement  of  policy  which  would  have  let  the  pro- 
vincial government  feel  at  liberty  to  change  its  aims;  but  it 
was  probably  taken  into  account  in  the  new  instruction  in 
the  spring  of  1766  by  which  the  slight  indulgences  granted 
the  Canadians  in  the  Judiciary  Ordinance  of  Sept.,  1764, 
were  approved  and  extended.  Doubtless  also  it  had  a  strong 
influence  in  stirring  up  the  home  authorities  to  the  beginning 
of  the  first  serious  investigation  into  the  problems  of  civil 
government  in  Canada, —  an  investigation  which  as  I  have 
elsewhere  shown  came  to  a  c^efinite  head  in  1767,  but  which 
did  not  bear  full  fruit  till  1774.  For  the  present,  however» 
the  provincial  government  seems  to  have  been  still  left  in 
the  dark,  and  it  is  evident  indeed  that  down  to  the  new  ad- 
ministration in  September,  1766,  there  had  been  received 
in  the  Province  no  definite  intimation  of  any  radical  change 
in  the  views  and  aims  of  the  home  executive. - 

But  that  before  this  date  such  a  change  had  to  a  large  ex- 
tent occurred  we  learn  from  other  sources.  Or  rather  we 
should  say  that  the  home  authorities  had  before  this  time, 
whether  by  the  representations  of  the  Colonial  officials,  by 
the  introduction  of  new  blood,  or  by  other  causes,  been  awak- 
ened out  of  the  ignorance  and  neglect  which  had  allo\7ed  the 
main  documents  relating  to  the  Province  to  be  couched 
in  the  most  vague  and  misleading  language,  and  the  mi- 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  2,  p.  s;7. 

'■See  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  3,  p.  249.  Also  the  Commission  of  Chief- Ju8tic^3  Hey,  Sept.,  1766. 
(Masdres,  Commisxions,  pp.  124-8) .  Tlie  failure  to  fully  inform  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment is  probably  to  be  explained  in  part  by  the  fact  that  it  had  been  resolved  to  recall 
Hurray. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1769-76.  453 

nor  documents  to  be  made  out  mainly  on  the  lines  of 
official  routine  established  through  dealings  with  the  other 
colonies.  The  letter  from  Murray  which  I  have  quoted 
above  is  dated  March  3,  1765,  and  on  the  September  2  follow- 
ing we  find  the  first  indication  of  attention  to  the  subjects 
there  suggested  in  the  shape  of  a  Board  of  Trade  report 
to  the  Privy  Council,  signed  by  four  names,  the  first  being 
that  of  the  Lord  Dartmouth  who  as  Colonial  Secretary  engi- 
neered the  Quebec  Bill  nine  years  later.  Unfortunately  we 
have  not  any  full  copy  or  satisfactory  abstract  of  this,  and 
are  obliged  to  depend  for  our  somewhat  vague  information 
as  to  its  recommendations  on  a  supplementary  Report  of 
the  Crown  lawyers  (Yorke  and  De  Gray),  of  April  14,  1766. 
This  latter '  states  as  one  of  the  main  sources  of  disorder  in 
the  Province,  the  alarm  taken  at  the  construction  put  upon 
the  Proclamation  of  1763,  "as  if  it  were  the  Royal  inten- 
tion, by  the  judges  and  officers  in  that  country,  at  once  to 
abolish  all  the  usages  and  customs  of  Canada  with  the 
rough  hand  of  a  conqueror  rather  than  in  the  true  spirit  of 
a  lawful  sovereign, "  ^  and  refers  to  the  Report  of  the  Board 
ts  ebly  applying  itself  to  the  remedying  of  this  grievance. 
Then,  after  discussing  the  subject  of  the  constitution  of  the 
courts,  they  proceed  to  consider  the  proposal  in  the 
report,  "that  in  all  cases  where  rights  or  claims  are 
founded  on  events  prior  to  the  conquest  of  Canada,  the 
several  courts  shall  be  governed  in  their  proceedings  by 
the  French  usages  and  customs  which  have  hitherto  pre- 
vailed in  respect  to  such  property; "  approving  of  it  as  far  as 
it  goes,  but  proceeding  to  maintain  that  in  all  matters  affect- 
ing the  possession  or  transfer  of  real  property,  "it  would 
be  oppressive  to  disturb,  without  much  and  wise  delibera- 
tion, and  the  aid  of  laws  hereafter  to  be  enacted  in  the 
Province,  the   local  customs  and  usages  now  prevailing 

1  Smith,  llUtoiy  of  Canada,  II.,  27-3ii  (Quebec,  1815) . 

'  A  reference  which  it  will  be  noticed  does  not  go  so  far  aa  to  deny  that  abolition  in 
some  degree  or  manner  was  intended  by  the  Proclamation,  or  that  the  terms  of  it  would 
not  admit  of  such  an  interpretation. 
12 


454  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

there.' "  This  it  will  be  seen,  is  a  very  decided  advance  on 
the  Board  of  Trade's  first  plan,  which,  though  of  a  very  in- 
definite scope,  manifestly  had  still  lingering  behind  it  the 
idea  which  lay  at  the  base  of  the  earlier  documents,  viz. : 
that  Canada  was  eventually  to  become  thoroughly  an  Eng- 
lish province  ruled  by  English  law.  That  the  advance  was 
not  unfavorably  received  by  the  Board  may  be  inferred 
from  a  communication  from  it  to  the  Privy  Council  June 
24,  176G,  transmitting  a  "draught of  particular  instructions 
for  the  Governor  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  Quebec,  for 
the  establishing  of  courts  of  judicature  in  that  Province," 
which  they  state  to  be  drawn  up  according  to  their  previ- 
ous report,  supiilemented  by  the  suggestion  of  the  Croivn  laiv- 
yers."^  These  instructions  do  not  immediately  appear,  nor 
do  we  find  anything  further  as  to  the  Quebec  judicature  or 
laws  till  June  "10,  1767,  when  Shelbourne  writes  to  Carleton 
that  the  improvement  of  the  Quebec  civil  constitution  "  is 
under  the  most  serious  and  deliberate  consideration,"  es- 
pecially of  the  Privy  Council;  the  main  problem  being, 
"  how  far  it  is  practicable  and  convenient  to  blend  the  Eng- 
lish with  the  French  laws  in  order  to  form  such  a  system 
as  shall  at  once  be  equitable  and  convenient  both  for  His 
Majesty's  old  and  new  subjects,  in  order  to  the  whole  being 
confirmed  and  finally  established  by  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment. "  ^  The  deliberate  character  at  least  of  the  course  taken 
is  fully  established  by  the  next  document  we  meet.  This 
is  a  Privy  Council  resolution  of  August  28,  1767,  adopting 
the  report  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the 
draught  of  instructions  submitted  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
June  24th,  1766.*    The  report  was  to  the  effect  that  the  doc- 

1  It  will  be  rememtiered  that  in  their  use  of  the  term  "  customs  and  usages"  the  Eng- 
lish lawyers  have  uo  doubt  in  mind  in  great  part  what  occupied  a  \  .isition  corresponding 
to  that  of  the  coramoc  luw  of  EuKland.  The  word  nuw  should  be  noticed  hero  also,  in 
connection  with  the  argument  above  as  to  the  practical  maintenance  of  the  French  law. 
This  was  in  1766,  and  certainly  no  disturbance  of  that  law  occurred  later. 

'Can.  Arch.,Q.  3,  p.  171. 

'Can.  Arch.,Q.  4,  p.  128. 

<Can.  Arch.,Q.  4,  p.  327. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE   OF  QUEHEC,    1700-76.  466 

ument  submitted  by  the  Board  of  Trade  was  too  general 
and  too  unsupported  by  specific  proofs  of  grievances  to  be 
approved  without  further  information;  especially  as  no  ex- 
plicit complaint  had  of  late  been  received  from  the  Colo- 
nial officials;  and  that  therefore  full  reports  and  recom- 
mendations as  to  the  alleged  judicial  defects  should  first  be 
obtained  from  these  officials,  "  it  being  unwise  and  danger- 
ous to  the  Province  to  frame  or  refoi'm  laws  in  the  dark. " 
In  accordance  with  these  proceedings  Shelbourne  in  the 
following  December  directed  Carleton  to  institute  a  specific 
investigation,  and  an  Under-Secretary  was  at  the  same  time 
commissioned  to  go  out  and  join  in  the  same.'  And  having 
thus  decently  shelved  the  subject,  the  Home  Government, 
busy  with  other  matters,  awaited  with  great  equanimity  the 
appearance  of  the  reports. 

But  before  the  news  of  this  step  had  been  received  by 
Carleton,  he  had  with  characteristic  energy  and  decis- 
ion made  up  his  mind  as  to  the  solution  of  the  matter,  and 
December  24,  1767  had  sent  to  Shelburne  an  abridgement  of 
the  civil  laws  of  Canada  in  use  at  the  conquest,  with  recom- 
mendation that  for  the  present  they  should  be  continued 
almost  entire,  to  be  altered  by  future  Ordinances  as  might 
seem  fit.  As  a  beginning  or  model  he  submitted  for  ap- 
proval a  draft  of  a  i^roposed  Ordinance,  for  "continuing  and 
confirming  the  laws  and  customs  that  prevailed  in  the 
Province  in  the  time  of  the  French  Judicature,  concerning 
the  tenure,  inheritance,  and  alienation  of  land."-  The  an- 
swer to  this  was  the  letter  from  Hillsborough  of  March  6, 
1768,  quoted  from  above,'  which  states  that  the  proposed 
Ordinance  has  been  approved  by  the  King,  though  it  is  to  be 
held  in  reserve  pending  a  general  settlement,  and  which 
therefore  shows  conclusively  that  more  than  six  years  be- 
fore the  Quebec  Act,  the  Home  Government,  uninfluenced, 

1  For  his  instructions,  see  Can.  Arcli.,  Q    4,  p.  :J31. 
"Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-1,  pp.  316-3W. 
•  P.  3S7. 


456  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

SO  far  as  we  can  discover,  by  anything  except  the  repre- 
sentations made  as  to  the  state  of  the  Province,  had  re- 
solved to  go  at  least  as  far  as  that  Act  went.  But  there 
were  still  the  reports  ordered  to  wait  for,'  and  meanwhile 
the  stationary  condition  of  affairs  '  is  shown  in  the  Instruc- 
tions of  Carleton,  August,  1768,  which,  though  going  into 
minute  directions  as  to  forms  of  legislation,  make  no  ref- 
erence to  the  all-important  question  as  to  how  far  that 
legislation  should  be  based  on  English  or  on  French  codes. 
The  investigation  ordered  was  entered  upon  vigorously 
by  the  provincial  Government.  It  is  significant  to  note  the 
anticipation  of  that  government  as  to  the  result,  (even  be- 
fore the  receipt  of  the  letter  of  March  Gth  from  Hillsbor- 
ough), as  shown  by  a  Minute  of  Council  of  March  28,  1768, 
to  the  effect  that  a  committee  was  appointed  on  that  day  to 
take  from  the  old  French  laws  such  extracts  "  as  may  ap- 
pear to  them  necessary  to  make  a  part  of  the  future  regu- 
lations of  the  Province." '  The  reports  were  transmitted 
in  September,  1769,  the  main  one  embodying  Carleton' s  views, 
and  minor  ones  giving  the  dissenting  opinions  of  the  Chief- 
Justice  and  Attorney  General.  Though  the  original  docu- 
ments are  not  to  be  found,  we  have  other  means  *  of  arriving 
pretty  accurately  at  the  contents.  Carleton  recommended 
that  the  whole  body  of  the  French  civil  law  as  it  had  existed 
before  the  Conquest  should  be  restored,  to  be  changed  ex- 
plicitly by  fresh  Ordinances  as  might  seem  necessary;  con- 
sequently that  no  English  civil  law  should  be  in  force  ex- 
cept such  as  might  later  be  expressly  introduced  in  this  man- 
ner. Maseres  and  Hey  on  the  contrary  thought  that  the  Cana- 

1  Thought  the  more  necessary  i)robabl.v  in  order  to  be  able  to  make  a  good  case  for  a 
moHs-urp  which  was  likely  tt)  be  viKorou.sly  opiMJsed. 

"  Possibly,  however,  only  the  old  neKlect. 

'Can.  Arch.,Q.  5-1,  p.  4:J5. 

*  Evidrnco  before  Coininons  in  the  Quebec  Act  Debate ;  Corrospondonco  of  Carleton ; 
writings  of  Maseres.  There  is  very  strong  reason  for  bolievintf  that  the  paper  in  the 
Lowrr  CKiiaila  Jurinl,  Vol.  I.,  attributed  to  Chief-Justice  Hey,  is  his  report  on  this  oc- 
casion. His  views  are,  however,  very  clearly  stated  by  him  in  the  evidence  referred  to 
above.    See  esp«>cially  C'arf/ii/i's/i,  pp   156-7. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  457 

dians  would  be  contented  and  the  best  interests  of  the  Pro- 
vince secured,  by  the  continuance  or  adoption  of  the  Eng- 
lish law  and  procedure  as  a  general  basis,  and  the  special 
revival  of  the  French  law  in  regard  to  landed  property  and 
inheritance;  the  general  aim  being  the  gradual  assimila- 
tion of  the  Province  to  the  other  English  possessions  in 
America.' 

The  home  authorities  did  not  allow  themselves  to  be  hur- 
ried. The  next  step,  almost  two  years  later,  is  an  Order- 
in-Council  of  June  14,  1771,  transmitting  the  Provincial 
reports  and  all  other  papers  concerning  Quebec  to  the 
crown  lawyers,'  and  ordering  them  to  return  separate 
and  detailed  reports  as  a  basis  for  legislation.  Mean- 
while, however,  as  if  to  palliate  the  delay  of  the  full  set- 
tlement, there  was  issued  (July  2d,  1771),  e  new  instruction 
in  regard  to  land  grants,  by  which  a  very  noteworthy  step 
was  taken  toward  the  return  to  French  law.  The  Procla- 
mation of  October,  1763,  had  conferred  on  the  governor 
and  Council  "  full  power  and  authority "  to  grant  lands, 
"  upon  such  terms  .  .  as  have  been  appointed  and  settled 
in  other  colonies, "  and  in  accordance  with  such  special  in- 
structions as  might  thereafter  be  given.  These  special  in- 
structions were  issued  to  Murray  when  appointed  Governor 
in  1764,  and  directed  the  grants  to  be  made  in  free  and 
common  soccage.  according  to  English  forms,  to  be  held  by 
an  oath  of  fealty  and  a  quit-rent  of  two  shillings  sterling 
per  100  acres ;  the  grants  to  be  in  restricted  quantities  and 
on  the  usual  conditions  of  cultivation,  and  a  special  caution 
being  added  against  following  the  example  of  some  of  the 
other  colonies  in  making  excessive  allotments  to  individuals 
unable  to  fully  cultivate.  Under  these  regulations  the  amount 
actually  granted  was  very  small,  not  exceeding  14,000  acres 

'  Special  attention  is  directed  to  those  rocommendntions  by  Mas^ros  and  Hey,  which 
will  bo  founu  in  detail  in  their  evidence  in  1774  before  the  Commons.  They  represent, 
in  my  opinion,  by  fartlie  better  settlement. 

'  Attorney-tteneral  Thurlow,  Solicitor-General  Wedderbourne,  and  Advocate-Ueneral 
Harriott. 


458  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

in  all,  according  to  the  statements  of  Carleton  and  Maseres ;' 
which  is  apparently  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
terms  were  deemed  severe  and  unprofitable,  especially  in 
comparison  with  those  of  the  French  grants.^  The  Min- 
utes of  Council  show  that  the  lands  which  had  been 
awarded  on  much  easier  terms  to  discharged  soldiers,  had 
been  but  little  availed  of."  The  expense  of  the  necessary 
registration  was  a  considerable  obstacle,  and  in  the  later 
years  the  government  seems  to  have  delayed  comj)leting 
grants  from  the  anticipation  of  new  instructions/  Such  a 
change  had  been  urged  by  Carleton  two  years  before,  in  a 
communication  in  which  he  had  described  the  old  French 
form  of  grant,  and  had  strongly  presented  the  advisability 
of  reverting  to  it  thereafter  except  at  the  eastern  extremity 
of  the  province,  where  he  considered  it  advisable  that  old 
subjects  only  should  be  encouraged  to  settle.-'  His  reasons 
for  this  advice  are  not  very  clearly  giv^en,  and  would  seem 
to  have  been  largely  military  (in  the  advantage  of  renew- 
ing in  some  way  the  obligation  of  military  service  as  a  condi- 
tion of  tenure),  but  we  are  safe  in  concluding  that  among 
them  was  a  conviction  that  the  English  forms  were  not 
conducive  to  the  settlement  of  the  country.  The  action  is 
on  a  line  with  the  constant  tendency  shown  by  Carleton  to 
revert  wherever  possible,  to  the  French  forms.  Though 
the  proposal  was  looked  upon  favorably  by  the  home  gov- 
ernment," no  effective  action  was  taken  thereon  till  July  2d, 
1771,  on  which  date  the  "additional  instruction"  spoken  of 
above  was  issued,  by  which  it  was  ordered  that  for  the  future 
lands  should  be  granted  "in  fief  or  seigneurie,  as  hath  been 
practiced  heretofore,  antecedent  to  the  Conquest,  '  according 
to  the  old  French  forms,  but  with  the  omission  of  the  judi- 

'  Tlio  former  in  ofHciuI  corresijondonco  April  15,  1767   (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  4,  p.  152) ;  the 
latter  in  Quebec  Commixsions,  p.  182. 
*S{TO  Cramahfi  to  Hillsborough,  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  142. 
■«  Ibid.,  Q.  4,  p.  230;  Q.  8,  p.  116. 

*  Minutes  of  CouncU,  April  18, 1770.    Ibid.,  Q.  7,  p.  129. 

»  To  Shelbourne,  April  12,  1768.    Can.  Arch.,  Q.  5-2,  p.  477. 

•  Hillsborough  to  Carleton  July  9, 1768.    Can.  Arch . ,  Q.  5-2,  p.  602. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-76.  459 

cial  powers  thereto  anciently  belonging.  The  ground  of  the 
change  is  stated  in  the  preamble  to  be  representations  that 
the  former  terms  "  have  been  found  to  be  inconvenient  and 
inadequate;  and  that  it  is  more  for  our  advantage  and  for 
the  benefit  of  our  subjects  ...  if  the  ancient  mode  of 
granting  lands  .  .  .  was  to  be  adopted."  This  radi- 
cal and  deliberate  change  of  policy  bears  very  striking 
testimony  to  the  genuineness  of  the  decision  as  to  the  full 
restoration  in  the  Province  of  French  law  and  custom.  In  this 
light  it  was  regarded  in  Quebec,  Cramaho  informing  Hills- 
borough '  that  the  French  Canadians  looked  on  the  change 
"as  a  fresh  proof  of  his  Majesty's  gracious  intention  to 
continue  to  them,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done,  their  ancient 
usages  and  customs.'"'' 

But  though  such  a  decisive  step  had  been  taken,  nothing 
further  was  attempted  until  the  reception  of  the  final 
reports  from  the  Crown  lawyers.  These  need  not  be  con- 
sidered in  detail,  their  main  provisions,  following  the  rec- 

1  May  5, 1772.  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  142. 

"Ho  coutinues:  "His  old  subjects  are  no  loss  ploasod  with  this  method  of  (granting 
lands,  for  upon  tlio  terras  at  first  required,  they  could  never  liavo  settled  them  to  advan- 
tage." Tlie  effects  of  the  chauRe  on  land  occupation  were  certainly  immediate  and 
striking.  Before  the  end  of  1771  we  find  before  tiio  Quebec  Council  petitions  for  land 
under  the  new  forms  araountinf;  to  an  aKBrefjato  of  60,000  acres  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  8,  p.  116), 
and  in  little  more  than  a  year  from  the  publication  of  the  new  instructions  no  less  than 
56  petitions  lind  boon  received  for  immense  tracts  (averaging  probably  not  loss  than  100 
square  miles  in  extent),  most  of  which  are  expressly  asked  for  eii  sei<;n<'uri('  and  all  of 
which  are  undoubtedly  so  ;i  lant.  Most  of  the  petitioners,  it  is  to  bo  not«d,  wore  of  the 
English  sjieakin;^  element.  Apart  from  the  questions  of  the  intrinsic  merit  and  suit- 
ability of  the  English  and  French  tenures  it  will  be  seen  that  two  reasons  must  have  ex- 
isted for  tills  preference  of  the  English  investors  for  the  French  form.  The  first  was  the 
fact  that  the  aristocracy  of  the  Province  was  founded  on  the  feudal  possession  of  the 
land ;  the  second,  that  it  must  have  been  at  this  time  very  clear  that,  whatever  should 
be  the  ultimate  form  of  governmont,  tlie  French  laws  and  customs  were  bound  to  pre- 
vail in  regard  to  landed  property.  It  will  be  .seen  on  the  other  hand,  that  this  great 
success  of  the  first  step  in  the  return  to  French  institutions  must  have  largely  tended  to 
confirm  the  intentions  of  the  Home  Oovornnieut  in  that  regard.  Though  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774  seems  to  attempt  to  regain  in  this  matter  some  of  the 
ground  lost  in  1771 ;  for  while  the  instruction  of  the  latter  date  make  no  provision  what- 
ever for  tlie  further  use  of  the  English  form  of  grant  or  tenure,  the  IXth  Art.  of  the  Aot 
is  especially  inserted  for  the  legalization  and  protection  of  "  free  and  common  soccage." 
In  connection  with  the  later  history  of  this  matter  of  feudal  tenures  see  Houston,  Caru 
Const.  Doc,  p.  109,  note  12. 


460  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

ommendations  of  Carleton,  being  embodied  in  the  Quebec 
Act.  They  were  elaborate  and  able  documents,  marked  by 
an  enlightened  spirit  of  justice  and  generosity  toward  the 
French  Canadians.  That  the  Act  of  which  they  were  the 
basis  was  not  the  best  settlement  of  the  question  is  to  be 
attributed  rather  to  the  misleading  prejudices  and  short- 
sightedness of  those  to  whom  the  Crown  lawyers  looked  for 
information  than  to  the  integrity  and  ability  of  the  latter. 
Having  now  reached  the  Act  itself,  it  is  necessary  to 
note  briefly  what  light  is  thrown  upon  this  part  of  our  en- 
quiry by  the  circumstances  attending  its  passage.  We  find 
on  the  general  point  so  little  discussion  that  it  is  evident 
the  opposition  felt  that  the  fundamental  position  of  the  gov- 
ernment was  too  strong  to  be  assailed.  But  later,  after 
letting  the  provisions  through  the  Committee  with  only  an 
incoherent  protest,  their  energies  revived  on  the  favorable 
subject  of  trial  by  jury,  and  an  amendment  providing  for  op- 
tional juries  formed  the  rallying  point  for  the  most  vigorous 
effort  of  the  whole  debate.  The  position  of  the  govern- 
ment seems  on  the  whole  even  here  the  stronger  and  more 
consistent;  though  it  is  difficult  to  escape  a  suspicion,  (not 
upheld  however  by  any  specific  evidence),  that  it  was  ani- 
mated somewhat  by  the  remembrance  of  the  obstacle  the 
jury  system  had  proved  to  government  in  the  revenue  cases 
of  1766  and  1769.'  It  was  contended  that  the  system  was  in- 
compatible with  the  French  law  and  custom  now  granted;^ 
that  the  bill  as  only  fixing  the  laws  and  customs,  did  not 
exclude  juries,  the  whole  constitution  of  the  judiciary  and 
the  procedure  being  reserved  to  His  Majesty ; '  and  that  the 

•  See  above,  p.  396,  note  3,  for  the  misconception  on  this  point. 

'To  which  the  flery  and  significant  retort  was  made :  "  In  God's  name,  wliat  can  be 
the  views  and  what  the  operations  of  that  bill  with  wliich  juries  are  incompatible? 
What  can  be  the  purposes  and  designs  to  be  answered  by  this  bill?  1  have  no  pleasure 
in  thinking  of  them ;  I  have  too  much  decency  to  name  them."    (Cavendish,  p.  26.) 

•  In  which  connection  it  is  very  noteworthy  that  the  words  an  the  rule  in  the  clause, 
'  in  all  matter  of  controversy  relative  to  property  and  civil  rights,  resort  shall  be  had 
to  the  laws  of  Canada,  as  the  rule  for  the  decision  of  the  same,"  are  assorted  by  one 
speaker,  (Cavendish,  p.  282.    The  statement  or  the  inference  from  it,  was  not  contro- 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  461 

present  arrangement  was  intended  only  as  a  basis  or  start- 
ing point  for  future  Provincial  legislation,  it  being  unwise 
for  the  Imperial  legislature  to  attempt  such  particular 
changes  as  could  properly  be  made  only  as  they  were 
called  for  and  by  those  upon  the  spot.  This  is  evidently 
a  strong  position,  and  if  at  all  upheld  by  later  actions 
should  go  far  toward  freeing  the  government  even  from 
the  suspicion  I  have  referred  to  above. ' 

That  the  profession  of  an  intent  of  bringing  in  English 
law  through  Provincial  enactment  was  sincere  was  shown 
by  the  action  supplementary  to  the  Quel)ec  Act.  In  the 
Instructions  to  Carleton  in  1775  for  his  guidance,  especially 

verted),  uot  to  have  for-iod  11  part  of  tlid  oriijiiial  bill,  but  to  have  boon  insortod  after 
its  prosontatiou  to  tlio  C  mmoii.s.  Thlscliaiiffo  was  characterized  by  him  a.s  u  "conoos- 
sion,"  which,  as  not  bindinpr  procedure  to  the  French  forms,  left  the  way  open  for  tho 
later  institution  of  tho  jury  system.  As  a  curious  and  somewliat  [)erpk'xiiiK  ofT.-et  to 
this  however,  it  is  to  bo  noticed  that  tho  oricinal  bill  is  asserted  l)y  another  opposition 
speaker,  {CavemUxU,  p.  19),  not  to  have  said  wliether  the  laws  of  Canada  or  of  £ni;;land 
were  to  bo  resorted  to.  This  must  mean  that  the  clans'*  in  (juestion  had  been  entirely 
omitted,  which  \.'ould  bo  incompatible  with  the  above  statement  as  to  tlie  absence  of  a 
part  of  it.  In  the  lack  of  tho  oriKinal  draft  no  liKht  can  be  thrown  on  tliis.  It  will  bo 
remembered  that  the  clause  in  question  must  have  been  considered  by  many  what  it  can 
reasonably  be  contended  to  bo,  in  largo  doKreo  superfluous,  so  far  as  tlie  establislnnont 
of  the  French  civil  law  was  concerned.  That  is,  tlio  revoking  in  the  previous  clause  of 
all  the  acts  of  government  by  which  tlio  Engli>h  law  was  contenderl  to  have  b<>en  intro- 
duced, would  alone,  under  the  oix>ration  of  tho  Capitulation  and  Treaty,  leave  the  field 
in  most  respects  fully  in  jwssessinn  of  the  former  code. 

'  It  seems  worth  while  to  note  iiere  more  fully  a  rather  remarkable  incident  in  tho  liis- 
tory  of  the  jury  systim  in  tho  Province  during  the  pro\ious  period.  March  9,  1765,  a 
Provincial  ordinance  .vas  passed  directing  that  for  the  future  all  juries  should  be  sum- 
moned from  the  Province  at  large  without  regard  to  the  vicinage  of  the  action  or 
crime.  This  remarkable  abrogation  of  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  tho  system 
seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  tomiKJrary  circumstances ;  and  that  it  was  sanctioned 
by  the  Home  administration  is  shown  by  tho  fact  that  in  tho  foUowini;  November  a 
Royal  order  was  issued  providing  for  an  exception  to  it.  No  later  direct  reference  to  it 
can  bo  found ;  but  that  some  instruction  must  have  teen  sent  in  connection  with  the  ex- 
cepting Ordinance  is  shown  by  the  apiiearance  on  Jan.  27, 1766,  of  a  Provincial  ordinance 
repealing  tl\at  of  1765.  This  is  stated  in  the  Council  Minutes  to  be  in  accordance  with 
the  precedent  of  the  exception  taken.  The  repealing  ordinance  takes  occasion  to  speak 
expressly  of  the  general  advisability  of  the  facts  being  ascertained  "  by  tho  oathes  of 
good  and  lawful  men  of  the  neighborhood  of  the  places  where  they  had  hapiiened, 
according  to  the  ancient  and  wholesome  rules  of  the  common  law  of  England."  The 
dates  here  should  be  compared  with  those  of  the  English  administrations  and  the  whole 
matter  considered  in  connection  with  the  latter  more  flagrant  overriding  of  the  same 
principle  in  the  case  of  the  other  colonies. 


462  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

in  future  legislation,  he  is  enjoined  by  the  12th  Art.  that 
•while,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  intention  of  the 
Quebec  Act,  the  Canadians  "should  have  the  benefit  and 
use  of  their  own  laws,  usages,  and  customs,  in  all  contro- 
versies respecting  titles  of  land  and  the  tenure,  descent, 
alienation,  incumbrance,  and  settlement  of  real  estate,  and 
the  distribution  of  the  personal  property  of  persons  dying 
intestate,"  on  the  other  hand  the  council  should  consider, 
in  adopting  regulations  to  this  end,  "whether  the  laws  of 
England  may  not  be,  if  not  altogether,  at  least  in  part,  the 
rule  for  the  decision  in  all  cases  of  personal  actions 
grounded  upon  debts,  promises,  contracts,  and  agreements, 
whether  of  a  mercantile  or  other  nature,  and  also  of 
wrongs  proper  to  be  compensated  in  damages,"  especially 
where  old  subjects  are  concerned.  Viewed  in  connection 
with  the  13th  Art.,  which  recommends  the  taking  of  meas- 
ures to  secure  to  the  Province  the  benefits  of  the  principle  of 
Habeas  Corpus,'  this  shows  that  the  administration  cannot 
be  justly  accused  of  being  willing  that  the  Government 
should  revert  entirely  to  the  old  principles  and  forms.  It 
is  apparently  intended  rather  that  only  so  much  of  the 
old  law  should  be  retained  as  could  in  any  way  be  con- 
tended for  as  essentially  bound  up  with  the  securing  to  the 
French  Canadians  that  full  enjoyment  of  their  property 
which  had  been  promised  in  the  Capitulation  and  Treaty. 
That  this  limit  was  not  adhered  to  was  due  in  part  to  a 
necessary  development  of  what  was  now  done;  in  part  to 
the  confirming  and  extending  of  the  main  policy  of  the 
Quebec  Act  during  and  after  the  revolutionary  war. 

d.  Legislative  Assembly.     We   have  now  reached  the   last 

'  Tho  address  of  CotiKross  to  the  people  of  England,  Sept.  5,  17715,  especially  complaina 
that  the  EukIIsIi  in  Canada  were  "deprived  of  trial  by  jury  and  when  imprisoned  cannot 
claim  the  benefit  of  the  habeas  corpus  act."  Tho  recommendation  made  by  tho  Home 
government  as  to  the  Habeas  Corpus  was  acted  on  in  1785  by  a  Provincial  Ordinance 
modolled  on  the  Act  of  Charles  II.  The  jury  system  had  been  extended  to  civil  cases  to 
gome  extent  by  an  ordinance  of  the  previous  year  (Smith,  Hist.  Can.  II,  169,  176).  The 
delay  in  the  case  of  both  was  owing  probably  in  main  part  to  the  intervaning 
American  wur. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEHEC,    1700-7G.  463 

imi)ortant  feature  of  the  Quebec  Act, —  that  withholding  of 
a  representative  legislative  assembly  which  was  evidently 
considered  by  the  revolutionary  fathers  as  the  main  feature 
of  the  "arbitrary  government"  they  viewed  with  such  ap- 
prehension. That  such  an  apprehension  on  this  ground  was 
most  natural  and  reasonable  cannot  be  denied;  on  the  other 
hand  it  will  appear  from  our  examination  that  the  skirts 
of  the  legislators  can  on  this  point  be  even  more  effectually 
cleared  of  guilt  than  on  the  others.  I  have  already  shown 
that  the  fundamental  proclamation  of  1703  and  the  later 
documents  by  which  the  civil  government  was  established, 
promise  and  presuppose  the  early  institution  of  a  repre- 
sentative body,  no  notice  being  taken  of  the  religious  diffi- 
culties that  lay  in  the  way.  The  whole  of  the  matter  at 
this  early  stage  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  the  un- 
considered and  hasty  character  of  the  first  steps  taken  with 
regard  to  Canada.  In  considering  the  latter  phases  of  it 
our  chief  interest  lies  in  the  gradual  development  of  Eng- 
lish governmental  opinion  on  the  point,  and  in  the  tracing 
of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  determination  of  1774  against 
representative  institutions. 

The  matter  seems  to  have  been  first  seriously  taken  up 
by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  that  report  of  September  2,  1765,' 
which  I  have  noticed  above  as  recommending  a  faint  degree 
of  return  to  the  old  laws.  In  regard  to  an  assembly  we 
find  in  it,  as  is  to  be  expected,'  a  decidedly  favorable  tone. 
It  states  that  "  the  situation  and  circumstances  of  the  colony 
have  not  hitherto  been  thought  to  admit  of  a  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives "  but  that  the  only  objection  they  can  find  is 
the  difiiculty  in  regard  to  admitting  Catholics  as  members;  a 
difficulty  however  which  they  think  might  be  obviated  by 
such  a  division  of  electoral  districts  as  would  enable  the 
Catholic  electors  to  choose  resident  Protestants,  there  be- 

iCan.  Arch.,*B.  8,  p.12. 

*  For  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  more  the  EuKlish  system  was  abandoned  and  the 
French  reverted  to,  the  more  remote  and  unfitted  would  the  idea  of  an  Assembly  beoo  m 


464  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

ing  no  law  denying  the  franchise  to  Roman  Catholics.' 
Such  a  settlement  they  think  would  "give  great  satisfac- 
tion to  your  Majesty's  new,  as  well  as  natural-born  sub- 
jects; every  object  of  civil  government  which  the  limited 
powers  of  the  governor  and  Council  cannot  extend  would 
be  fully  answered,  and  above  all  that  essential  and  impor- 
tant one  of  establishing  by  an  equal  taxation  a  permanent 
and  constitutional  revenue."  This  does  not  seem  to  us  a 
very  liberal  provision,  but  probably  in  the  then  state  of 
the  laws  and  of  public  feeling  in  England  and  the  colonies, 
it  was  thought  the  extreme  limit  that  could  be  granted. 
The  statement  as  to  revenue  brings  to  our  notice  a  strong 
and  constant  ground  for  the  establishment  of  representa- 
tive institutions, —  the  relief  that  could  thereby  be  most 
easily  afforded  to  the  English  taxpayer. 

The  general  course  of  events  subsequent  to  this  report  I 
have  considered  elsewhere,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  rec- 
ommendations concerning  an  Assembly  were  regarded  as  of 
subordinate  interest,  no  reference  whatever  being  appar- 
ently made  to  them.  The  language  of  the  later  instructions 
to  Murray  and  Carleton,  and  the  narrow  legislative  power 
to  which  the  Government  and  Council  continued  to  be  re- 
stricted, show  however  that  the  idea  of  settled  Government 
without  an  Assembly  had  not  yet  seriously  entered  the 
mind  of  the  home  authoi'ities.  Indeed  the  careful  direc- 
tions concerning  legislation  with  an  Assembly  at  a  time 
when  it  was  recognized  that  the  future  constitution  of  the 
Province  must  be  settled  soon  by  Parliamentary  enactment 
would  indicate  that  the  calling  of  an  Assembly  before  that 
settlement  was  considered  not  improbable.  The  instruc- 
tions issued  to  Carleton  in  1768  give  minute  directions  for 
the  framing  of  legislation  "  when  an  Assembly  shall  be 
summoned  and  met  in  such  manner  as  you  in  your  discre- 
tion shall  think  most  proper,  or  as  shall  be  hereafter  di- 

•  Note  that  this  ig  the  idea  flually  adopted  by  tlie  British  party  in  Canada. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OP  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  4r»5 

reeled  and  api)ointed."  They  go  on  however  to  make  more 
general  provisions  of  such  a  character  as  to  show  that, 
while  there  was  apparently  no  thought  of  withholding  an 
Assembly,  the  relations  with  such  bodies  in  the  other 
colonies  had  inspired  the  determination  to  take  spe- 
cial precautions  in  regard  to  new  estfibllshrnents.  A  sig- 
nificant article  directs  that  in  all  enactments,  "  for  the 
levying  of  money  or  imposing  fines,  forfeiture  or  penalties, 
express  mention  be  made  that  the  same  is  granted  or  re- 
served to  us  .  .  .  for  the  public  uses  of  the  Province  and 
the  support  of  the  Government  thereof,  .  .  .  and  that  a 
clause  be  inserted  declaring  that  the  money  arising  by  the 
operation  of  the  said  law  or  Ordinances  shall  be  accounted 
for  unto  us  in  this  Kingdom  and  to  our  Commission  of  the 
Treasury  or  our  High  Treasurer  for  the  time  being,  and 
audited  by  our  Auditor  General. "  *  The  11th  Article  puts 
restrictions  on  legislation  of  an  unusual  nature  or  affecting 
British  commerce,  such  laws  not  to  go  into  operation  till 
approved  by  the  Home  Government.  The  12th,  stated  in 
the  preamble  to  be  occasioned  by  the  practices  of  some  of 
the  other  Provinces,  makes  provision  against  the  evading, 
through  temporary  laws,  etc.,  of  the  control  of  the  home 
authorities.  The  14th  is  concerned  with  the  prevention  of 
the  assumption  of  too  great  privileges  by  members  of  the 
Assembly  or  Council,  (said  also  to  be  occasioned  by  expe- 
riences with  the  other  Provinces),  and  the  prevention  of 
self- adjournment  of  the  Assembly,  together  with  a  very 
noticeable  clause  granting  the  Council  "the  like  power  of 
framing  money  bills  as  the  Assembly. " 

The  special  import  of  these  provisions  will  be  noticed 
later.  Following  up  the  main  inquiry,  we  find  in  the  Canada 
Report  of  Solicitor-General  Wedderburn,  December,  1772,  the 
next  important  reference  to  the  subject,  and  the  one  which 

« It  is  to  be  noted  that  a  clause  of  the  same  tenor  as  this  though  not  in  quite  the  same 
language  is  in  the  instructions  of  1765  to  Sir  H.  Moore,  of  New  York  (Colonial  Office 
Records,  London). 


4CAi  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

sets  forth  most  clearly  the  main  ostonsiVjlo  grounds  on 
which  the  Assembly  was  finally  withheld.  His  conclusion 
is  that  it  is  at  present  wholly  inexpedient  to  establish 
the  institution  in  (Quebec;  for,  although  admitting  that 
legislation  could  be  properly  attended  to  only  by  such  a 
body,  ho  considers  the  difliculties  in  its  formation  too  great 
to  be  ovei'come.  Into  sucli  an  Assembly  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic French  Canadians,  in  the  capacity  both  of  electors  and 
of  members,  must  or  must  not  be  admitted.  To  admit  them 
as  members  would  be  a  dangerous  and  unconstitutional  ex- 
periment, and  would  lead  to  inexhaustible  dissensions  be- 
tween them  and  the  old  suVjjects;'  while  to  exclude  them 
would  cause  a  feeling  of  inequality,  and  a  fear  of  being 
exposed  to  injustice.  On  the  other  hand  the  question  of 
the  franchise  was  involved  in  equal  difficulties;  for  the 
denial  of  it  to  the  Canadians  would  leave  the  Assembly  no 
more  representative  than  a  Council,  while  to  extend  it  to 
them  indiscriminately  as  landholders  would  be  offensive  to 
the  upper  class  among  them,  and  not  beneficial  to  the  lower.'' 

1  It  will  of  coiirs(^  nt  oiico  occur  to  tli(>  rdidcr  tlmt  in  (jranada,  sovcn  years  hcforo,  the 
exiicrinii'iit  had  been  tried.  Hut,  as  is  shown  abovi-  (pj).  UI-7),  the  results  had  not  boon 
of  a  kind  to  encouraue  a  rejietition  of  it ;  for  jfovcrnineiit  tliere  had  hei  ii  from  that  date 
involved  thereby  in  tlie  urcatest  dilllculties,  throuKJi  just  sucli  "  inexhaustible  dis.son- 
cions  "  as  Wedilorbourno  must  now  have  had  in  mind,  Tim  conditions  furthi<rof  Canada 
and  Grenada  were  very  difr<'rent,  the  dilTerenco  lieinir  of  a  Kind  to  cause  even  greater  dilH- 
cultiosto  Imi  apiirehended  in  tlie  former.  Tlie  temi«'rof  the  En«lish  jiarty  had  already 
been  shown.  They  were  howiivor  hut  a  very  small  factor  as  compared  witli  tho  mass  of 
the  Frencli  f'anadians;  anri  the  Uritish  povernnient  had  therefore  to  hear  in  mind  not 
only  inevitable  dissensions  b.'tweeu  the  uvo  races,  but  also  the  iniiverilliuK  of  the  safety 
of  the  ni^w  Province  with  a  discontented  Kn^lish  element  and  a  popular  House  almost 
entirely  French.  In  Grenaila  tliere  could  bo  very  little  danwer,  and  if  trouble  did 
arise  it  would  be  confined  to  tho  Island  and  could  scarcely  have  danRorous  conneo 
tions  outside.  The  use  of  tlie  word  i(iic(iii.ili/i,.i<iniil  by  Wedderbourno  shows  al.so 
I)erhar)s  that  ho  had  in  mind  the  vigorous  attacks  made,  (it  is  true  on  somewhat  difler- 
ent  firounds),  on  tlip  Administration  for  tho  step  in  Grenada. 

'  In  this  latter  s('ntonco  we  see  tho  weak  point  of  an  otherwise  conent  statement.  But 
it  is  to  b«!  remembered  that  WodJerbourno  was  preparing  his  report  on  information  fur- 
nished by  Carleton,  one  of  the  main  features  of  whose  policy  wf.  ~  to  represent  tho  great 
importance  of  attaching  the  noblesse  and  maintaining  them  in  their  imagined  influence 
over  tho  lower  classes.  The  idea  as  to  the  privilege  of  the  suffrage  lot  benefiting  the 
people  was  based  on  roiiroscntations  as  to  the  ignorance  and  political  incapacity  of  the 
lntt«r,  and  the  probability  that  under  representative  institutions  they  would  only  fall 
into  the  handsof  demagogues  orof  English  creditorri. 


COFFIN — TIIK   raOVINTE  OK  QUEHFX',    17(!0-70.  U!7 

On  theso  grounds  Weddorbourne  advises  that  Instead  of  an 
assembly,  tlio  lof?islativo  power  should  bo  j^ranted  with 
important  restraints  to  a  Council  considerably  enlarged  and 
made  more  indv^pendcnt  of  the  (Jovornor. 

For  these  opinions  the  provincial  oflicials  wore  no  doubt 
mainly  responsible.  Carleton  was  strongly  set  against  an 
Assembly,  as  not  adapted  to  the  province  and  as  not  de- 
sired by  the  Canadians.  Masores  also  seems  to  consider 
a  very  liberally  framed  Council  the  best  plan,  (a  purely 
Protestant  Assembly  being  manifestly  impossible),  for 
some  years  to  come.  The  latter 's  advice  on  this  matter  to 
the  British  party  in  Quebec  is  of  much  interest.  Just  be- 
fore the  Quebec  Bill  was  introduced  he  writes  to  the 
representatives  of  the  party,  (whose  agent  he  was),  that 
he  is  not  yet  sure  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Ministry  on  the 
point,  but  conjectures  th'i.t  they  are  of  opinion  that  the 
province  is  not  yet  ripe  for  an  assembly  and  are  therefore 
inclined  to  establish  instead  a  nominated  Council  with 
larger  jjowers;  that  his  own  opinion  is  that  such  a  Council 
would  be  better  for  the  Province  for  several  years  to  come 
than  an  assembly  into  which  "  Papists  "  should  be  admitted; 
that  the  only  objection  he  sees  to  a  Protestant  Assembly 
is  the  danger  of  offending  the  more  numerous  Catholics; 
but  that  if  this  difficulty  be  got  over  by  some  comprouiise, 
(as  by  granting  the  suffrage  to  the  French  Canadians),  he 
would  be  very  glad  to  see  an  assembly  granted,  "as  indeed 
1  suppose  it  would  in  that  case  be. "  He  proceeds  then  to 
advise,  as  in  his  opinion  likely  to  be  more  helpful  in  the 
procuring  of  their  object  than  any  other  step,  that  the 
petitioners  should  declare  that  they  "  conceive  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament  to  have  a  complete  legislative  authority 
over  the  Province  of  Quebec,  and  that  such  authority  will 
continue  after  the  establishment  of  an  assembly,"  and  that 
they  are  willing  '  that  every  member  of  such  future  assem- 
blies should  be  required  to  recognize  the  said  supreme 
authority  in  every  article  whatsoever  both  of  legislation 


468  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

and  taxation  in  the  plainest  and  strongest  terms  before  he 
is  permitted  to  take  his  seat."  Such  a  declaration  he 
thinks,  "  would  greatly  tend  to  remove  the  prejudices  now 
subsisting  in  the  minds  of  many  people  in  England  against 
the  erection  of  new  houses  of  assembly  in  America,  aris- 
ing from  the  conduct  of  the  assembly  in  Boston  and  in 
other  of  the  American  Provinces  in  totally  denying  the 
supreme  authority  of  Parliament. " '  Maseres  it  will  be  re- 
membered was  at  this  time  on  the  English  Exchequer  Bench, 
and  probably  in  a  position  to  know  as  accurately  as  any 
outsider  could  the  attitude  of  the  authorities  on  a  subject 
in  which  he  was  so  much  interested.  His  was  by  all  odds 
the  keenest  intellect  prominently  concerned  in  Canadian 
affairs  at  the  time,  and  though  occasionally  his  writings 
show  signs  of  haste  and  want  of  balance  as  well  as  some 
intolerance  and  narrow  legal  habits  of  thought,  a  close 
study  of  the  period  will  I  think  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  possessed  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  Canadian  con- 
ditions, and  clearer  and  more  far-sighted  views  as  to  the 
policy  that  should  be  adopted  in  regard  to  them,  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries.  Though,  as  we  see  above,  uphold- 
ing the  supreme  authority  of  the  British  Parliament,  (his 
legal  training  made  any  other  view  almost  impossible  to 
him),  he  belonged  in  many  respects  to  the  more  liberal  and 
advanced  school  of  thinkers  on  colonial  Government.'  Cer- 
tainly his  writings  prove  that  he  would  have  been  one  of 
the  last  to  have  countenanced  any  plan  of  aiming  to  restrict 
colonial  liberty  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  despot- 
ism in  Canada.  The  advice  here  given  to  the  Quebec  leaders 
shows  indeed  that  he  was  of  opinion  that  the  Ministry  was 
strongly  prejudiced  against  Colonial  legislatures.  That 
this  was  correct  there  can  be  no  thought  of  denying.  But  it 
is  further  shown  here,  as  by  many  other  references,  that  the 
Ministry  was  also  of  opinion  that  the  unquestioned  suprem- 

'  Pruceedingx,  etc.,  pp.  35-8. 
^  See  his  Freeholder. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  469 

acy  of  the  British  Parliament  could  be  secured  in  the  Act 
of  settlement.  In  this  advice  Maseres,  as  the  counsel  of  a 
political  party,  is  merely  recommending  the  further  reas- 
suring of  the  Ministry  by  docile  professions.  In  none  of 
his  writings,  even  in  those  of  much  later  date  than  the 
Quebec  Act,  is  there  any  reference  to  the  possibility  of 
that  Act.  (of  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  determined 
opponents),  being  dictated  as  regarded  the  withholding 
of  an  assembly,  by  the  motives  which  had  been  attributed 
by  the  colonists.  On  the  very  eve  of  the  new  settlement 
we  find  him  of  the  opinion  that  the  only  serious  objections 
to  such  a  body  in  the  mind  of  the  authorities,  were  on 
the  one  hand  the  danger  of  allowing  full  weight  to  the 
overwhelming  French  Catholic  majority,  and  on  the  otiier 
the  difiiculty  of  making  a  Protestant  Assembly  palatable  to 
that  majority. 

Our  most  important  source  of  information  on  this  point, 
however,  outside  the  Ministerial  correspondence,  is  the 
debate  on  the  Act  itself  in  the  Hou.se  of  Commons.  And 
the  main  impression  which  its  study  leaves  with  us  is  that 
the  opposition  was  very  careful  not  to  press  for  an  im- 
mediate Assembly,  and  that  the  Ministry  was  very  careful 
to  base  the  withholding  of  it  purely  on  the  ground,  (1)  that 
it  would  be  unjust  to  exclude  the  French  Roman  Catholics 
from  it,  and  (2)  that  it  would  be  unsafe  to  admit  them. 
Att.  Gen.  Thurlow  asserted  without  contradiction  that  no 
one  had  claimed  that  it  was  at  present  tit  to  give  an  As- 
sembly to  Canada;  and  later  in  the  debate,  Fox  admitted 
that  he  would  not  explicitly  assert  that  it  was  expedient 
at  that  time  to  call  one.  Lord  Beauchamp,  a  Government 
supporter,  affirmed  that  no  member  had  advocated  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  Council  because  of  the  conduct  of  the  popu- 
lar assemblies  in  America,  or  had  ventured  to  say  that  it 
would  always  be  inexpedient  to  give  the  latter.  Almost 
the  last  word  on  the  subject  was  the  following  from  Lord 

North:     "  That  it  is  desirable  to  give  the  Canadians  a  con- 
13 


470  BULLETIN  OF  TFIE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

stitution  in  every  respect  like  the  constitution  of  Grtat 
Britain,  I  will  not  say;  but  I  earnestly  hope  that  they  wi.'l, 
in  the  course  of  time,  enjoy  as  much  of  our  laws  and  as 
much  of  our  constitution,  as  may  be  beneficial  for  that 
country,  and  safe  for  this.  But  that  time  is  not  yet  come." 
It  is  evident  on  the  whole  that  the  opposition  could  not  olfer  a 
solution  of  the  difticulties  that  seemed  to  lie  in  the  road,  and 
that  the  Government,  whatever  secret  motives  may  have 
influenced  it,  was  (luite  able  to  defend  its  position  by  point- 
ing to  these  difficulties.  The  hints  of  the  opposition  as  to 
the  Bill  giving  evidence  of  secret  hostility  to  liberty,  were 
rather  in  reference  to  other  features  than  to  the  more 
complicated  and  less  assailable  point  of  the  withholding 
of  representative  institutions. 

It  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the  Quebec  Act  deferred 
than  that  it  denied  an  Assembly;  for  the  wording  used  is, 
"whereas  it  is  at  present  inexpedient; "  as  Lord  North  stated 
it,  "  That  this  establishment  is  not  to  be  considered  perpet- 
ual, is  admitted  in  the  bill  itself. "  There  was  not  at  any  time 
any  serious  question  of  the  permanent  refusal  to  the  Canadi- 
ans of  representative  institutions;  and  the  references  to  the 
period  of  tutelage  and  probation  that  should  elapse  before  the 
granting  of  such  institutions  seem  to  presuppose  a  .short  one. 
It  is  indeed  impossible  to  conceive  that  any  administration 
could  have  expected  that  the  country  would  long  be  satis- 
factorily governed  by  a  Legislature  which  had  no  money 
powers  whatever,  beyond  levying  and  applying  of  munic- 
ipal rates,  and  v/hich  was  expressly  prohibited  from  mak- 
ing effective,  even  for  a  day,  any  enactment  which  imposed 
a  greater  punishment  than  fine  or  imprisonment  for  three 
months.  In  fact  the  action  taken  in  this  particular  must 
simjjly  be  looked  upon  as  the  shelving  of  a  difficult  sub- 
ject,—  as  a  continuation  of  the  policy  of  delay  and  com- 
promise which  had  marked  all  previous  dealings  with  Can- 
ada. The  Government  had  the  positive  assurances  of 
Carleton,  to  whom  it  looked  mainly  for  information,  that 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF   QUEIiEC,    1700-76.  471 

the  Canadians  did  not  want  an  Assembly,  would  indeed 
prefer  not  to  havo  it;  and  the  small  En^^lish  party  was 
thought  as  yet  to  have  a  weight  in  the  country  too  small 
to  require  much  attention.  The  period  during  wh'ch  an 
Assembly  was  to  be  delayed  was  of  course  not  clear  to  the 
mind  of  anyone;  but  it  is  possible  that  the  Ministry  wished 
first  to  have  settled  the  ditticulties  to  which  the  Assemblies 
in  the  other  provinces  were  giving  rise.  In  so  far  then  it 
is  probably  true  that  the  framers  of  the  new  constitution 
were  affected  as  to  this  point  by  the  general  situation  of 
things  in  America;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  ground  for 
going  any  further.  The  Ministry  was  encouraged  to  delay 
representative  institutions  because  it  had  assured  itself 
that  the  gi'eat  body  of  the  French  Canadian  people 
had  no  desire  for  these  institutions,  and  could  be  safely 
and  perhaps  beneficially  left  without  them  for  a  few  years 
to  come;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  delay 
was  intended  as  the  first  step  of  a  system  of  oppression 
which  was  ultimately  to  extend  to  the  other  colonies 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  docile  slaves  that  had 
been  secured  in  Canada.  It  is  undeniable  indeed  that  as 
early  as  1768  the  Imperial  authorities,  while  of  the  opinion 
that  an  Assembly  should  be  constituted  as  soon  as  possible, 
had  resolved  to  take  stringent  measures  for  the  I'estricting 
of  the  money  power  of  the  same,  and  the  keeping  of  it  in 
unquestioned  subordination  to  the  British  Parliament.  But 
this  is  a  phase  of  the  subject  which  does  not  concern  us 
here.  It  was  simply  the  application  to  Canada,  in  a 
strictly  constitutional  way,  of  the  general  claims  which 
gave  rise  to  the  American  Revolution.  I  am  not  interested 
here  to  enquire  whether  the  Imperial  government  went  as 
far  in  Canada  as  it  attempted  to  go  elsewhere;  the  question 
is  rather,  did  it  go  farther?  Did  it  attempt  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  political  ignorance  and  docility  of  a  long 
enslaved  people  for  the  purpose  of  upholding,  in  direct 
opposition  to  all  the  free  principles  of  English  govern- 


472  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OV  WISCONSIN. 

ment,   a  set  of  conditions  which  might  continue  to  be  or 
might  become,  a  menace  and  checlc  to  the  other  colonies? 

With  regard  then  to  the  origins  of  the  Quebec  Act  it 
need  only  be  added  that  the  above  examination  must  at 
least  show  that  if  that  Act  were  in  any  important  degree 
due  to  the  causes  assigned  it  by  colonial  suspicion,  the  gov- 
ernment which  orignated  and  pushed  it  through  must  have 
taken  unusual  pains  to  keep  its  reasons  and  its  purposes  hid- 
den. But  w^hy  .should  such  concealment  have  been  thought 
necessary  with  regard  to  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  en- 
actment? This  same  government  had  just  carried  through 
three  Bills'  of  the  most  stringent  and  repressive  nature, 
striking,  to  the  popular  view,  heavier  blows  at  American 
freedom  and  growth  than  anything  contained  in  the  Que- 
bec Act,  and  had  found  itself  in  the.se  measures  backed  by 
a  consistent  and  overw^helming  support,  both  in  Parlia- 
ment and  throughout  the  country.  Why  should  it  now 
have  scrupled  to  say  that  it  was  also  taking  measures  of 
precaution  in  Canada?  The  government  of  that  day  was 
not  an  enlightened  one,  and  would  have  been  content  to 
secure  popular  support,  without  looking  to  the  future;  it 
might  well  have  concluded,  for  example,  that  the  pre- 
serving of  the  vast  regions  of  the  West  from  the  en- 
croachments of  the  rebellious  colonies  would  prove  a  pop- 
ular measure.  Rather  than  concealed  indeed,  we  might 
expect  to  see  this  motive,  if  occupying  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  the  Government  mind,  put  forward  with  promi- 
nence. We  might  expect  to  find  it  used  to  explain  and  de- 
fend the  more  doubtful  parts  of  the  measure,  and  especi- 
ally that  apparent  establishing  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  which  so  aroused  the  horror  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  which  was  almost  as  unpopular  in  England 
as  in  America.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  secret  design 
hinted  at  by  the  opposition  and  believed  in  by  the  colonists 

•  With  re«urii  to  Massachusetts. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  0'  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  473 

had  existed,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  it  would  have 
been  alluded  to  by  such  able  and  prominent  members  of  the 
party  as  Wedderbourne  and  Lyttleton,  As  to  the  more  de- 
cided utterances  in  the  Debates  for  the  repeal  of  the  act 
in  1775,  both  of  the  Opposition  and  of  the  Government,' 
they  must  be  regarded  as  after  thoughts.  The  Opposition 
was  undoubedly  inspired  by  the  objections  with  which  the 
Act  had  been  met  in  America,  and  the  Government  was 
alarmed  and  exasperated  by  the  increasing  menaces  there 
to  Imperial  control,  and  ready  to  use  or  threaten  to  use, 
any  instrument  that  lay  ready  to  its  hand. 

C.     Application  of  the  Act. 

In  connection  with  the  Act  should  be  noted  the  instruc- 
tions that  accompanied  the  new  commissions  under  it,  and 
some  later  official  developments.  The  new  instructions 
with  regard  to  legislation  had  now  a  more  definite  basis  in 
the  elimination  of  the  confusing  element  of  a  possible  As- 
sembly, and  we  find  the  following  changes :  (1)  A  restric- 
tion of  the  legislative  period  to  the  months  of  January, 
February,  March  and  April;  apparently  for  reasons  con- 
nected with  the  climate  and  the  communication  with  Eng- 
land. (2)  Suspension  till  royal  approval  of  some  classes 
of  ordinances,  with  a  prohibition  of  any  commercial  ordi- 
nance by  which  the  inhabitants  should  be  put  on  a  more 
advantageous  footing  than  any  other  of  His  Majesty's  sub- 
jects, "  either  of  this  Kingdom  or  of  the  Plantations.  "  ^ 
Prohibition  of  all  religious  legislation. 

A  clause  with  regard  to  the  procedure  of  the  new  Council  ^ 
had  consequences  of  sonx  interest  which  lead  us  a  little 
beyond  our  period.  It  was  the  first  part  of  the  2nd  Article 
of  the  above  instructions,  and  read :     "  It  is  further  our  will 

1  Lord  North  lioroojioiily  avowed  his  intention  of  arininRtlie  Canadians  if  nocopsary, 
for  the  purpose  of  roducinK  the  refractory  colonies  to  obedience.— ilfij'Ji'a»i*M<a>\i/  HU- 
torp,  Vol.  18,  p.  680. 

•This  is  perhaps  wortli  noticing  with  regard  to  the  question  of  the  hostility  of  the 
measure  toward  f  lie  other  ci)h>nies. 

'  This  consisted  of  2:1  members,  8  being  French  Canadians. 


474  HULLETIN  OF  TIIK   UNIVERSITY  OK   WISCONSIN. 

and  pleasure  that  any  five  of  tlie  said  Council  shaH  consti- 
tute a  board  of  Council  for  transacting?  all  business  in  which 
their  advice  and  consent  may  be  re(iuisite,  Acts  of  Lej?is- 
lation  only  excepted,  (in  which  case  you  are  not  to  act 
without  a  majority  of  the  whole).  "  No  clear  state- 
ment is  made;  anywhere  as  to  a  quorum.'  This  very  indef- 
inite provision  Carleton  promptly  availed  himsdlJ'  of  as 
might  have  been  expected  from  his  action  in  17()(),  and  June 
27,  1778,  he  sends  homo  the  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Council ' 
for  the  precedinj;?  <''ght  months.  These  minutes  do  not  ap- 
pear in  the  State  Papers,  but  we  have  the  similar  ones  from 
Haldimand,  October  24, 1779,  for  the  period  from  November  1, 
1778,  to  September  25,  1770.'  An  examination  of  those 
latter  shows  that  this  '"Board  of  Council  "  consisted  of  live 
members  beside  the  f Governor  and  Lieut. -(Governor,  all  of 
whom  wore  also  members  of  the  Legislative  Council:  that 
it  refers  to  itself  as  a  "Board,"  and  holds  meetings  in  1778 
on  the  7th,  9th,  and  80th  November,  and  in  1771)  on  the  10th, 
11th,  and  17th  May,  the  7th  and  12th  June,  and  the  15th 
July,'  the  Governor  being  ])rescnt  at  all  but  two  meetings. 
We  have  here  evidently  a  <iii(isi  Cabinet,  without  Par- 
liamentary responsibility,  invested  apparently  with  all 
the  executive  powers  of  the  C(juncil  though  meeting  so 
infre(|uently  as  to  be  but  a  slight  chock  on  the  Governor." 
But  though  the  wording  of  the  instruction  under  which  it 


I  III  tliii  <l(*l)iiti<  ill  till'  ('iiniiiions  tliii  (jiii^lii'C  Hill  Irjil  Iiim^ii  iiltackcil  for  tlut  al>Hi)iicii  of 
any  siicli  imn  -ion  ;  wliicli  was  rcplioil  to  liy  Lord  Noitli  liy  an  a.-M^rlion  (Cm  tnilinh,  p. 
241 1,  that  it  was  iiitt^niliMl,  as  shown  tiy  f li<i  wonis  "tlii'  major  part,"  tliat  tlin  (|iioriiin 
hIioiiIiI  lin  a  majority  of  tlid  sinallc^st  miinlMT  (17)  of  wliicli  llic  Council  slioulil  cousist. 
But  this  claiiMi!  had  mfanmco  only  to  liiKiHJatiun,  and  tlin  uiiHWi^r  loolis  liko  an  iintutti 
evasion  of  th«  |Hilnt  at  issue. 

"  In  ri'KanI  to  lii.^  tlinii  Iniatiimiit  of  tin-  ("oiiniul,  soo  p.  I):W,  notoli. 

"  Ki'fiTii'd  to  hy  tlii^  (N)iincil  Clark  a.s  the  "Privy  Council." 

♦These  are  referred  to  simply  as  the  "  Minutes  of  His  Majesty's  Council,"  the  "Jouruul 
of  the  LeKislative  (,'ouiicll  "  for  the  correspond  iiiK  session  l)eini?  sent  at  the  same  time. 

'The  correH|H)ndinK  ".lournal  of  the  LeKlslativu  Council"  is  for  the  HOMMiou  lltli-16tli 
January,  1779. 

"  Who  lia<l  the  choice  of  the  members.  It  looks  as  if,  under  Haldinianil  nt  loaat,  this 
"  Hoard  "  was  iisi^d  only  as  a  pretense  of  nomplyint;  with  the  cuuHtitutioual  ruquirenienta 
aH  to  the  "udvico  and  conwtit"  vt  tlie  Council. 


COKJ'IN — THE   PUOVINCK  (»K  QL'EHKC,    17<iO-7<>.  475 

was  institutod  would  soom  fully  to  admit  of  this  interpreta- 
tion, (indciod  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  tiio  conclusion  that  it 
was  so  intended,  and  liad  becm  procured  to  tliat  end  by  the  di- 
rect efforts  of  (Jarl(iton),  it  did  not  f<o  unquestioned  in  the  Col- 
ony. Early  in  the  sprint?  of  177H  we  find  Chief  Justice  Livius, 
(a  somewhat  hot-headed  i)ersonaf.?e,  who  persisted  in  rais- 
ing oth(!r  disa<(reeuhlo  (juestions  and  was  a  couple  of 
months  later  sus|)ended  from  his  otti(je  by  Cai-letony,  dis- 
puting^ the  constitutionality  of  the  new  institution,  and  de- 
manding?. (A))i'il  11',  177H),  definite  written  information  as  to 
Carleton's  order  "sehictin.i?  and  api)ointin^  five  members  of 
His  Majesty's  Council  to  act  as  a  Council  to  the  (exclusion  of 
every  other  member. "  The  infoi'mation  desired  was  refused, 
as  was  also  ])ermission  to  read  tlie  minut(!s  of  the  Privy 
Council.  Nothing furtheron  the  head  ai)i)ears  in  the  Colonial 
correspond(!nco;  but  that  Livius  successfully  presented  his 
point  to  the  liome  authoi'ities  is  shown  by  an  additional 
and  very  definite  instruction  issued  to  llaldimand,  (wViohad 
without  new  instructions  succeeded  Carleton  in  the  Chief 
Governorship),  on  the  29th  of  the  following  March. 
This,  after  citing  the  portion  of  the  2nd  Art.  of  Carleton's 
instructions  above  quoted,  proceeds  as  follows: — "And 
whereas  it  is  highly  titling  and  expedient  that  no  misrep- 
resentation of  our  Royal  will  and  pleasure  in  this  instance 
should  continue  or  obtain,  we  do  hereV>y  direct  and  require 
that  this  article  shall  not  be  understood  to  delegate  author- 
ity to  you  our  Governor  to  select  or  appoint  any  such 
persons  by  name  as  you  shall  think  fit  to  make  such 
Quorum,  terming  the  same  a  Privy  Council,  or  to  excuse 
you  from  summoning  to  Council  all  such  thereunto  belong- 
ing as  are  within  a  convenient  distance.  On  the  contrary 
that  you  do  take  especial  care  to  preserve  the  constitution 
of  your  said  Province  free  from  innovation  in  this  respect;" 
to  which  end  the  Governor  is  to  communicate  this  addi- 
tional instruction  to  the  said  Council.     And  by  a  second 


476  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

additional  direction  of  the  same  date,  evidently  intended 
to  reinforce  the  effect  of  the  first,  he  is  commanded  not  to 
fail '  in  promptly  communicating  to  the  Council,  "  to  the 
end  that  they  may  jointly  with  you  .  .  .  carry  our  inten- 
tions effectually  into  execution,"  all  instructions  on  subjects 
concerning  which  their  advice  and  consent  were  made 
requisite.  The  tone  and  import  of  these  orders  are  un- 
mistakeable;  but  the  inner  history  is  by  no  means  clear,  nor 
can  the  homo  administration  escape  f  vovn  some  suspicion  of 
inconsistency  or  at  least  obscurity  of  policy.  The  repre- 
sentation of  the  original  instruction  as  intended  only  to 
give  directOKS  concerning  a  quorum  seems  a  hardly  tenable 
position;  as  said  already  the  entirely  new  forms  and  terms 
used,  taken  in  connection  with  previous  events,  might 
well  lead  to  the  conviction  that  the  new  terms  and  forms 
were  intentional  and  intended  to  provide  for  new  things. 
Though  on  the  other  hand  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that 
there  was  a  fully  formed  intention  of  allowing  an  institu- 
tion to  become  established  which  would  practically  have 
the  effect  of  taking  away  all  executive  voice  from  the 
Council  and  reducing  it  to  a  purely  legislative  capacity. 
Whatever  the  inner  history,  the  effect  is  clear;  the  Coun- 
cil as  a  whole  was  restored  to  its  old  executive  sphere 
with  effective  intimation  that  that  sphere  was  not  to  be 
monopolized  (at  least  openly),  by  the  governor.  And  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  this  final  action  of  the  home 
executive  does  not  support  the  charge  that  it  was  aim- 
ing to  assimilate  the  Provincial  government  as  much  as  pos- 
sible to  the  old  French  absolute  form.  Members  of  Council 
had  to  be  residents  of  the  colony, —  a  provision  which 
seems  a  distinct  intervention  in  the  interests  of  self-gov- 
ernment. The  same  conclusion  seems  fairly  to  be  drawn 
from  the  repetition  in  the  Governor's  instruction  of  1775 

'  A  less  emphatic  injunction  to  tlie  same  effect  had  always  been  a  part  of  the  instruc- 
tions, but  Haldimand  had  disregarded  it. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-7G.  477 

of  the  35th  Article  of  those  of  1768,  ordering  that  '  every 
orthouux  minister  within  your  government  be  one  of  the 
vestry  in  his  respective  parish;"  a  direction  which  must  be 
construed  in  connection  with  a  consideration  of  the  contem- 
poraneous position  of  vestries  in  England. 

The  immediate  results  of  the  Quebec  Act  with  regard  to 
the  official  abuses  which  had  been  so  complained  of, 
were  not  very  gratifying.  The  vacating  of  all  commissiors 
by  it  was  intended,  Carleton  says,  "  to  put  a  stop  to  all  dep- 
utations, and  to  compel  all  who  had  offices  here  to  reside 
and  do  their  duty  in  person ; "  but  August  10th,  1776.  he 
complains  that  the  same  abuse  had  been  introduced  again 
in  a  great  measure  by  royal  mandamu.ses,  (one  person  be- 
ing thus  granted  five  offices),  and  that  into  these  "still 
slide  .  .  .  a  string  of  terms,  authorities,  fees,  perquisites 
and  all  that  dirty  train. " '  And  in  regard  to  the  accompany- 
ing and  still  greater  evil  of  excessive  fees  he  writes  later, 
(June,  1778),  that  although  "  the  King  had  been  ^ileased 
bountifully  to  augment  the  salaries  of  his  servants  in  this 
Province  that  they  might  live  comfortably  in  their  respec- 
tive stations  v/ithout  oppressing  his  i)eople, "  yet  the  mat- 
ter has  become  worse  than  over,  there  existing  in  the  Pro- 
vince "  no  rule  or  regulation  for  fees  of  offices,  but  each 
man  for  himself  as  guided  by  his  own  desire  of  gain, 
which  of  late  has  broken  out  with  greater  keeness  than 
ever  before. "  -  These  minor  developments  are  possibly 
worth  more  attention  than  I  can  here  give  to  them.  For 
they  bear  strongly  on  the  general  conclusion  as  to  the  Que- 
bec Act  to  which  my  investigation  has  led  me,  viz. :  that 
the  return  to  the  old  institutions  in  the  degree  thus  ac- 
complished, was  a  step  neither  warranted  by  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  moment  nor  by  any  principles  of  sound  policy; 
but  that  the  French  Canadians  would  have  been  satisfied 
with  a  part  of  what  the  Act  gave,  accompanied  with  a  full 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  119. 
•Ibid.,  B.  37,  p.  192. 


478  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OK  WISCONSIN. 

remedy  of  the  really  pressing  evils  in  the  uncertainty  of 
the  law  and  the  abuses  of  its  administration.  The  remedy 
for  these  abuses  did  not  depend  on  the  return  to  the  old 
institutions;  on  the  contrary  we  have  seen  that  that  return 
wr.3  not  accompanied  by  it.  Still  loss  do  wo  find  it  followed 
by  the  expected  improvement  with  regard  to  the  confus- 
ion and  uncertainty  of  the  law.  The  immediate  and  con- 
tinued result  was  in  accordance  with  the  mixture  of  aim 
and  motive.  To  show  this  it  is  necessary  only  to  refer  to 
any  respectable  history  of  the  period.  It  was  not  till  1777 
that  the  civil  courts  were  re-established  in  Quebec;  we  are 
informed  by  a  writer  who  is  almost  contemporary,  and 
who  had  had  exce])tional  means  of  knowing  the  exact 
legal  conditions,  that  an  official  investigation  in  1787  dis- 
closed "  such  a  scene  of  anarchy  and  confusion  in  the  laws 
and  in  the  administration  of  them  by  the  courts  as  no  Eng- 
lish province  ever  before  laboured  under;  English  judges 
followed  English  law;  French  judges  followed  French 
law;  some  of  them  followed  no  particular  law,  but  decided 
according  to  what  appeared  to  be  the  equity  of  the  case.  "' 
Christie  writes  of  the  year  1790,  that  it  was  complained 
that  although  the  Quebec  Act  had  been  sixteen  years  in 
force,  "  the  courts  had  not  yet  decided  whether  the  whole 
of  the  French  laws  or  what  part  of  them  composed  the 
custom  of  Canada,  as  they  sometimes  admitted  and  some- 
times rejected  whole  codes  of  French  law.  "^  Garneau' 
groups  together  the  whole  period  from  1760  to  1786  as 
marked  by  the  same  "  exces  de  tyrannie  et  de  d6sordres," 
and  states  that  the  investigation  into  the  judiciary  by  Dor- 
chester in  1786  showed  the  utmost  uncertainty  and  confu- 
sion.    More  modern  writers*  accept  this  condition  of  affairs 

1  Smith,  Ilistoru  of  Cniiada,  II.  175. 
^  tlUturfi  of  Lower  Caniida,  I,  67. 

*  HitUdu  Canada,  111.  ftl.    The  statemeat  is  apparently  eadoraed  by  Lareau,  Hist, 
Droit  Catiadian,  II.,  16S. 

*  See  for  example  Kiugsford  aud  Bourinot, 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEUEC,    1700-7 1>.  479 

without  dispute.  It  is  only  intended  here  to  point  out  that 
the  Quebec  Act  has  thus  no  defence,  in  at  least  this  first 
stage  of  its  life,  from  the  standpoint  of  good  government 
in  the  Prov'nce.  This  should  be  kept  in  mind  as  we  pass 
to  the  special  consideration  of  some  of  its  more  immediate 
disastrous  effects,  and  as  wo  retlect  more  generally  ui)on 
its  remoter  results  in  the  history  of  British  North  America. 


480  DUI/.ETIN  OK  THE  UNIVEIISITY  OF  WI8CON8IN. 


CHAPTER  VT. 

THE  QUEBEC  ACT  AND   THE  AMERICAN  KEVOLUTION. 

A.     The  RcvohitUm  in  the  Province  of  Quebec. 

In  the  frequent  extolling  by  British  and  Canadian  writ- 
ers of  the  j)olirt/  of  the  Quebec  Act,  the  reference  is  of 
course  to  the  supposed  effect  of  that  Act  in  confirming  the 
loyalty  of  the  French  Canadians  at  the  revolutionary  crisis, 
and  thu>  in  preserving  the  newly-acquired  territories  from 
the  grasp  of  the  revolutionary  movement.  If  the  conclu- 
sions of  the  last  chapter  be  well  taken,  it  will  be  seen  that, 
whatever  the  outcome  of  the  measure,  the  inference  as  to 
policy  is  largely  mistaken;  that  in  other  words,  if  the  re- 
sults were  as  stated,  it  would  seem  a  rare  and  happy  in- 
stance of  immediate  temporal  reward  for  disinterested 
well-doing.  It  is  not  meant  to  deny  that  in  the  generally 
threatening  conditions  in  America  tho  firm  attachment  of 
the  new  subjects  must  have  appeared  to  the  home  govern- 
ment as  a  very  desirable  thing;  nor  that  the  conviction  of 
this  desirability  was  probably  a  considerable  factor  in  con- 
firming the  final  conclusions  as  to  their  treatment.  Such  a 
motive  would  be  of  necessity  strongly  present  in  the  case 
of  such  an  unknown  quantity  as  the  new  acquisition  of  a 
segment  of  another  nationality;  I  have  simply  tried  to  show 
that  it  wai-  >t  accentuated  by  the  contemporary  existence 
of  other  colonial  problems  to  the  extent  of  appreciably 
affecting  the  policy  adopted  toward  the  new  subjects. 

But  further,  I  am  obliged  to  take  exception  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  upholders  of  the  Act  for  other  and  stronger 
reasons.  The  credit  for  political  sagacity  assigned  to  the 
authors  of  that  measure  must  be  impugned  not  only  on  the 
ground  that  their  work  had  little  if  any  reference  to  the 
circumtances  on  which  the  credit  is  given,  but  also  for  the 
conclusive  reason  that  the  immediate  results  of  the  Act  were 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEHEC,    1760-76.  481 

precisely  the  opposite  of  what  had  been  anticipated  and 
have  ever  since  been  assumed.  It  is  the  object  of  this 
chapter  to  show  that  not  only  was  the  Quebec  Act  not 
effectual  in  keeping  the  mass  of  the  Canadians  loyal,  but 
that  what  effect  it  did  have  was  in  exactly  the  opposite 
direction.  And  before  proceeding  to  this  it  should  be 
noticed  that  in  anticipating  or  extolling  the  results  of  the 
new  settlement  on  tho  French  Canadians  there  i.s  curiously 
left  out  of  sight  by  the  upholders  of  the  Act,  any  consid- 
eration of  its  effects  either  on  the  British  in  Canada  or  on 
the  older  colonies.  Yet  it  is  evident  that  for  the  true 
estimate  of  its  policy,  wisdom,  or  results  there  must  be  an 
accurate  balancing.  In  view  of  the  accompanying  measures 
of  the  Government  of  the  day  in  regard  to  the  other  colon- 
ies directly  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  any  thought  of  this 
entirely  absent  at  the  time.  We  however  have  no  excuse 
for  now  neglecting  it. 

The  question  of  the  influence,  direct  or  indirect,  in  gen- 
eral or  in  particular  parts  of  the  country,  of  the  new  settle- 
ment of  Quebec  affairs  on  revolutionary  development  in 
the  other  colonies,  is  one  of  an  interest  so  great  and  so 
closely  connected  with  my  work  that  I  can  only  express 
my  regret  at  being  unable  at  present  to  investigate  it 
thoi'oughly.  It  must  be  left  with  a  reference  to  the  gen- 
eral classing  of  the  Act  with  those  of  the  same  session  in 
regard  to  Massachusetts  Bay,'-  and  to  the  emphasis  so 
placed  upon  the  measure  in  the  early  steps  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress.  One  remarkable  bit  of  private  testi- 
mony in  connection  therewith  might  also  be  mentioned. 
In  the  Dartmouth  Papers  we  find  a  letter  from  one  Joseph 
Eeed  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  Secretary  of  State,  dated 
Philadelphia,  Sept.  25,  1774,  and  giving  an  account  of  the 
alarming  proceedings  of  the  Congress  then  sitting  there. 
The  writer  proceeds :  — "  But  what   shall   I   say  to  your 

'  This  has  been  universal  araoni?  American  writers.  See  Roosevelt,  M'inniiig  of  the 
Weal,!.,  (or  a.  moro  emphatic  and  recent  position;  and  in  connection  the  treatment 
above  of  Quebec  boundaries,  Chapter  V,  section  B,  a. 


482  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   WLSCONSIN. 

Lordship  of  the  appearances  in  this  country;  what  seemed 
a  little  time  since  to  be  a  spark  which  with  prudence  and 
wisdom  might  have  been  extinguished,  is  now  a  flame  that 
threatens  ruin  both  to  parent  and  child.  The  spirit  of  the 
people  gradually  rose  when  it  might  have  been  expected 
to  decline,  till  the  Quebec  Act  added  fuel  to  the  fire;  then 
all  those  deliberate  measures  of  petitioning  previous  to 
any  opposition  was  laid  aside  as  inadequate  to  the  appre- 
hended danger  and  mischief,  and  now  the  people  are  gen- 
erally ripe  for  the  execution  of  any  jjlan  the  Congress 
advises,  should  it  be  war  itself. " '  Without  delaying 
further  on  the  direct  influence  in  the  revolting  colonies  of 
the  general  feeling  w^ith  regard  to  the  Quebec  settlement, 
it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  attitude  of  that  section  of 
the  British  party  in  the  Province  itself  which  I  have  above 
distinguished  as  closely  in  sympathy  with  what  became  the 
revolutionary  element,  is  a  fairly  correct  index  to  the  gen- 
eral feeling.  That  element  in  Quebec  had,  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  province,  no  legitimate  or  immediate  share 
in  the  general  colonial  quarrel ;  its  grievance  was  the  Que- 
bec Act  purely;  yet  we  find  this  a  grievance  of  strength 
sufficient  to  drive  it  almost  immediately  into  secret  and  as 
soon  as  possible  into  open  revolt. 

In  noting  these  consequences  of  the  new  settlement  with 
regard  to  the  English-speaking  party  in  Quebec,  we  have 
first  to  observe  its  efficacy  in  openly  separating  the  more 
advanced  and  more  moderate  section.-    The  first  step  of 

'  Hist.  MSS.  Commission,  Rpport  XL  Appendix,  V.  p.  362.  I  am  indobtod  for  the 
reference  to  tlio  i?f7)o/-<  for  IstKJ  of  tlio  Canadian  .\rcliivist,  p.  XXI.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  writer  selects  from  the  various  obnoxious  measures  of  the  late  Parliamentary 
session,  the  .\ct  in  regard  to  Quebec,  without  any  mention  apparently  of  the  more  di- 
rectly threatening  ones  concernins  Massachusetts  Bay.  His  thoutiht  may  probably  be 
more  distinctly  seen  in  a  later  horrified  reference  to  "  The  idea  of  brinRinR  down  the 
Canadians  and  savages  upon  the  English  Colonies."  Of  the  writer  I  know  nothing 
surely ;  but  he  is  possibly  the  same  person  to  whom  the  Congressional  Diary  of  Rich- 
ard Smith  makes  reference  March  1,  1776,  as  the  "Secretary  to  Gen.  Washington,"  and  as 
having  hie  salary  then  raised  by  Congress  on  account  of  important  naval  duties.  (See 
Amfr.  Hist.  Review,  April,  1896,  p.  507.) 

■  See  above  c.  3,  for  analysis  of  the  English  party. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEnEC,    17r.0-7(!.  483 

the  party  was  the  drawing  up  of  protests  af^ainst  the  Act; 
in  which  mild  proceeding  however  all  apparently  did  not 
take  part.  For  Carleton  writes  Nov.  11,  1774  to  Dart- 
mouth, that  the  more  respectable  part  of  the  English  at 
Quebec,  "notwithstanding  many  letters  received  from 
home  advising  them  to  pursue  a  different  course,"  had  pre- 
sented a  dutiful  and  submissive  address;  but  that  in  Mon- 
treal, "w^hether  the  minds  of  the  latter  are  of  a  more  tur- 
bulent turn,  or  that  they  caught  the  fire  from  some  colo- 
nists settled  among  them,  or  in  reality  letters  were  received 
from  the  General  Congress,  as  reported,  I  know  not,  cer- 
tain it  is  however  that  shortly  after  the  said  Congress  had 
published  in  all  the  American  papers  their  approbation  of 
the  Suffolk  Co.  resolves  in  the  Massachusetts,  a  report  was 
spread  at  Montreal  that  letters  of  importance  had  been  re- 
ceived from  the  General  Congress,"  and  public  meetings 
were  held  by  the  British  there  for  the  consideration  of  griev- 
ances. Thence  the  infection  had  spread  to  Quebec  where 
the  same  course  was  pursued,  though  "several  discrete 
persons "  at  both  places  had  declined  taking  part.  Since 
then  there  had  been  several  "town-meetings  as  they  are 
pleased  to  style  them ; "  though  he  speaks  doubtfully,  "  as 
they  have  taken  uncommon  pains  to  keep  their  whole  pro- 
ceedings from  my  knowledge."  He  describes  these  town- 
meetings  and  reports  as  all  "  breathing  that  same  spirit, 
so  plentifully  gone  forth  through  the  neighbouring  Prov- 
inces,"  and  speaks  of  the  necessity  of  government  guard- 
ing zealously  "  against  the  consequences  of  an  infection, 
imported  daily,  warmly  recommended,  and  spread  abroad 
by  the  Colonists  here,  and  indeed  by  some  from  Europe, 
not  less  violent  than  the  Americans. "  ' 

The  immediate  outcome  of  these  proceedings  were  numer- 
ously signed  petitions  against  the  Act,  addressed  to  the 
King  and  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament.     There  can  be  no 


'Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  II. 


484  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

doubt  that  the  leaders  here  and  from  this  time  on  were 
constantly  in  more  or  less  direct  communication  with  the 
American  Revolutionists  and  were  aiming  to  keep  as  closely 
in  touch  with  their  efforts  as  possible.  The  letters  spoken 
of  above  by  Carleton  undoubtedly  did  represent  some  such 
connection,  and  a  few  days  later  (Nov.  18,  1774) '  Carleton 
transmits  a  copy  of  one  which  had  fallen  into  his  hands, 
and  which  probably  was  the  communication  referred  to. 
And  as  It  speaks  of  itself  as  being  "  our  first  public  cor- 
respondence with  the  town  of  Quebec, "  ■  it  will  be  worth 
while  to  refer  more  fully  to  it.  It  is  dated  Boston,  Oct. 
10,  1774,  and  is  a  moderate  and  dignified  letter  of  thanks 
by  one  David  Jeffries,  on  behalf  of  the  "Committee  of  Do- 
nations "  of  Bos  ion,  for  a  contribution  (api)arontly  of  wheat) ' 
"  to  relieve  the  distressed  poor  of  this  oppressed  town, " 
and  is  addressed  to  "  the  Gentlemen  of  Quebec "  through 
a  trading  firm  named  Minot,  originally  from  Massachusetts. 
It  speaks  of  the  necessity  of  the  union  of  all  parts  of  the 
continent  against  oppression,  and  of  the  satisfaction  afforded 
by  the  sympathy  of  the  town  of  Quebec ;  refers  to  the 
policy  of  Great  Britain  in  "  creating  divisions  amongst  them 
and  using  them  as  engines  to  beat  down  and  destroy  the 
liberties  of  each  other,  that  so  all  may  be  an  easy  prey  to 
tyranny  and  despotic  power," — a  policy  to  which  "the  eyes 
of  the  colonists  are  opened;"  and  expresses  the  hope  of 
the  continued  support  of  "our  friends  in  Canada,  '  with 
*irhom  the  writers  will  think  themselves  "  happy  in  keeping 
up  a  brotherly  correspondence."  This  letter  is  anterior  to 
any  action  of  Congress  in  regard  to  Canada,  and  the  com- 
munication now  opened  was  constantly  kept  up.*   The  Amer- 

1  Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  11,  p.  103. 

'•"Ibid.,  (j.  11,  p.  lOS.  Thin  expression  docs  not  by  any  means  exclude,  (rather  in- 
deed implies)  previous  correspondence  with  individuals. 

'  Sent  tlio  previous  6th  September.  Congress  had  met  for  the  first  time  at  Philadel- 
phia the  day  before. 

*  In  the  following  November  we  find  the  Massachus.otts  Provincial  Con«resM  appoiut- 
iuK a  committee  (of  which  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  are  members),  for  the  do- 
visinK  of  moans  of  keeping  up  a  correspondence  with  Mont  .'oal  and  Quebec.  John  Brown 
was  later  appointed  the  agent  of  thi^i  committee. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-7G.  485 

ican  portion  of  the  jiarty  together  with  a  few  of  European 
birth,  (nearly  all  apparently  at  Montreal),  undoubtedly  from 
this  time  became  active  partisans  of  the  Revolutionary 
cause,  which  they  publicly  embraced  on  the  appearance  of 
the  Amoric-m  invading  force.  January  12,  1775,  Carleton 
writes  that  the  British  subjects  are  "  still  exerting  their 
utmost  endeavors  to  kindle  in  the  Canadians  the  spirit  that 
reigns  in  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts," '  and  the  fol- 
lowing March  13,-  that  some  of  them  "  continue  suggesting 
into  the  minds  of  the  Canadians  an  abhorrence  for  the  form 
of  government  intended  by  the  Act  of  last  session,"  and 
that  they  have  translated  the  letter  of  Congress  and  actu- 
ally imported  200  or  300  copies  of  it. 

I  need  not  go  into  details  of  the  intrigues  carried  on  and 
of  the  various  methods  of  communication  employed.  The 
point  of  main  interest  here  is  that  the  final  split  in  the 
party  becomes  now  very  evident.  An  attempt  was  made  at 
Montreal  to  have  delegates  elected  to  the  Congress  of  1775, 
and  notwithstanding  Mr.  John  Brown's  explanation  of  the 
cause  of  its  failure,^  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  great 
body  of  the  English  were  decidedly  opposed  to  the  step  on 
general  grounds,  and  that  the  leading  American  element 
found  itself  at  this  point  finally  separated  from  its  former 
constituency.  We  find  in  short  that  the  main  body  of  the 
"  old  subjects "  remained,  in  spite  of  the  Quebec  Act, 
heartily  loyal  to  English  rule  during  this  crisis;  that  their 
attitude  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Tories,  (the  later 
United  Empire  Loyalists),  in  the  other  Provinces.  They 
were  probably  willing  to  go  farther  in  opposition  to  the 
government  than  their  brethren  in  some  of  the  other  Prov- 

I  Cau.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  110.  See  ako  anonymous  lotU*r  from  Montreal,  Jan.  Iri,  1775.  [4 
Amcr.  Arch.,1,  1164]. 

»Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  129. 

'This  war,  to  the  effect  that  the  English  in  Quebec  could  not  jo\n  the  non-iiniiortation 
agreement,  as  in  that  case  the  French  would  immediately  monopolize  the  Indian  fu 
trade.  (John  Brown  to  Boston  Com.  of  Correspondence,  March 2C,  1775,  4  Amer.  Arch,, 
II.  243.) 

14 


486  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

inces,  for  they  were  under  more  irritating  conditions ; '  but 
they  were  not  willing  to  go  to  the  length  of  taking  up  arms.^ 
As  to  Quebec  city  we  have  very  decisive  evidence.  I  have 
above  estimated  the  total  male  adult  British  population  as 
hardly  600  in  number  and  it  will  be  a  liberal  allowance  to 
grant  the  town  of  Quebec  at  this  juncture  half  of  these.' 
But  the  official  returns  of  the  number  of  the  defending  force 
includes,  November  16,  1775,  "200  British  militia,"*  and 
May  1st,  1776,  "277  British  militia."''  And  that  the  efforts 
of  these  were  not  luke-warm  is  abundantly  shown  by  letters 
of  the  officers  engaged."  Carleton  himself  testifies  that 
their  conduct  was  such  as  could  hardly  have  been  expected 
from  men  unused  to  arms.'  It  is,  on  the  whole,  safe  to  say 
that  after  the  Spring  of  1776  the  British  party  in  Canada 
was  seemingly  united  in  upholding  the  British  cause. 
Almost  the  entire  American  element  had  departed  with 
their  retreating  countrymen,"  and  the  remainder  of  the  party 
had  apparently  become  reconciled  to  government  and  had 
been  taken  for  a  time  into  its  full  confidence.     We  find 

1  And  honce  did  ro  to  the  vitko  of  sedition,  and  at  first  urobiibly  were  somewhat  luke- 
warm ill  the  dcfunso  of  tlie  Provinco. 

"  Thoir  attitude  nt  Montreal  is  probably  accurately  represented  by  a  paper  in  the 
j/iild.  Coll.,  (l{ii>.  f'liii.  Arch.,  1HS8,  i>.  91M,)  which  purports  to  bt-  a  proposal  of  terms  of 
capitulation  to  MontRomcry,  and  which  is  siicned  by  Eiislisli  and  Frencli  names.  It 
stipulates  for  the  free  ixissossiou  and  enjoyment  of  rights  and  reliRion,  non-interference 
of  soldiers  with  the  inhabitants,  and  'litil  they  .should  not  lir  olilij/cd  to  take  Uf)  arms 
aifiiiiiKt  the  niothi'i-  coindrij.  Accompanying  this  is  another  document,  unsiiBrnod,  which 
protests  against  the  terms  of  the  capitulation  as  a  treaty  Iwtween  two  enemies,  (whereas 
it  ouprht  to  be  a  fraternal  union),  and  expresses  a  desire  for  such  a  union  with  the  other 
colonies.  There  can  he  no  doubt  that  this  latter  is  the  voice  of  the  few  revolutionary 
sympathizers.  Tarleton  writes  Oct.  "JS,  1775,  that  on  the  attack  on  Montreal  by  the  rebels 
a  few  of  the  inliabitants,  "  mostly  colonists,"  had  refused  to  take  part  in  the  defence. 
From  which  wo  are  justified  in  concluding  that  the  most  of  the  English  element  had 
taken  part. 

'■>  Montreal  was  the  chief  trading  coatro. 

n'an.  Arch.,  Q.  1,  p.  344. 

'Ibid.,  Q.  12,  p.  2.5. 

•Seeof  Col.  Caldwell  in  rransactii.rn  Lit.  and  Hist.  Soc.  of  Quebec.  New  Series, 
Part  S;  and  of  Col.  McLean,  in  Can.  Arch  ,  Q.  12,  p. :». 

'  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  7.    To  CJormaino  May  14, 177«. 

"The  list  of  revolutionists  sent  home  by  Carleton  May,  1777,  contains  27  names 
and  is  apparently  intended  as  a  full  one.    Ibid.,  Q.  13,  p.  106. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  487 

intrigues  it  is  true  carried  on  tlirough  the  whole  war;  but 
these  were  conducted  in  the  main  through  the  re-visits  of 
those  who  had  departed  with  the  Americans,  and  were 
directed  solely  toward  securing  a  hold  upon  the  French 
Canadians.  November  20,  1776,  Carleton  transmits  loyal 
addresses  from  the  British  subjects  of  Quebec,  and  ex- 
presses himself  as  so  well  satisfied  of  the  sincerity  of  the 
signers  that  there  is  "  reason  to  hope  that  this  part  of  His 
Majesty's  Dominions  may  with  proper  arrangements  be 
made  the  firm  support  of  the  British  interests  on  this  con- 
tinent. " '  But  although  they  had  refused  to  go  the  full 
length  desired  by  their  more  violent  early  leaders,  the 
English-speaking  party  continued  unanimously  opposed  to 
the  Quebec  Act,  and  maintained  a  more  or  less  vigorous 
agitation  against  it  down  to  its  partial  repeal  in  1791.  We 
hear  of  hostile  petitions  presented  in  1778,  and  again  in 
1784,  and  an  examination  of  the  language  of  these  shows  that 
the  position  of  the  main  body  continued  to  be  pretty  much 
as  represented  by  Maseres.  With  the  introduction  of  the 
Loyalist  element  at  the  close  of  the  war  the  party  gained 
immensely  in  weight,  and  attention  to  its  representations 
could  no  longer  be  delayed. 

But  my  main  purpose  in  this  chapter  is  to  enquire  into  the 
results  of  the  Quebec  Act  on  the  French  Canadians.  The  gen- 
erally accepted  view  that  they  were  fully  satisfied  with  the 
Act  and  thereby  strongly  attached  to  the  British  connec- 
tion, is  one  which,  without  examination  of  evidence,  pro- 
ceeds naturally  from  the  belief  that  the  measure  was  based 
wholly  or  mainly  upon  their  expressed  desires.  I  have 
shown  above  that  this  was  not  the  case,  for  the  reason  that 
the  self-constituted  interpreters  of  these  desires  had  drawn 
their  conclusions  from  very  narrow  and  mistaken  observa- 
tion and  very  one-sided  information.  It  is  not  surprising 
therefore  to  find  that  the  results  did  not  at  all  correspond 
with  the  expectations  of  the  promoters  of   the  measure. 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  la,  p.  238. 


488  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  CF  WISCONSIN. 

Overwhelming  evidence  shows  that  the  French  Canadians 
were  not  faithful  to  British  rule  at  this  crisis,  and  that  they 
were  least  faithful  at  the  time  when  t?ie  Quebec  Act  might 
be  supposed  to  have  had  most  influence.  Faither  evidence, 
equally  strong,  if  not  so  great  in  quantity,  shows  that  the 
effect  of  the  Act  on  the  mass  of  the  people  was  one  of 
alienation  rather  than  conciliation.' 

It  will  be  well  to  enquire  first  if  there  is  any  ground  to 
expect  these  I'esults,  rather  than  those  which  have  been  so 
long  assumed  with  such  apparent  reason.  What  do  we  know 
or  what  can  we  reasonably  conclude  as  to  the  opinions  of  the 
mass  of  the  people  on  the  points  which  formed  the  main 
subject-matter  of  the  Quebec  Act?  Of  the  four  main  pro- 
visions which  I  have  discussed  above,  two,  —  the  extension 
of  the  boundaries  of  the  province  and  the  decision  against 

1  As  to  tlie  first  of  tlies-o  statements  — till"  liostilit.v  to  Briti.^li  counection  as  shown  by 
support  of  the  invadiuK  revolutionists,—  I  do  not  assume  auy  attitude  of  discovery.  The 
evidence  when  really  looked  at  is  too  overwholminK  to  liavo  altocetlier  escaped  the  ob- 
server. The  latest  and  stnmgest  expression  of  the  trutli  I  find  in  Kiugsford's  lliHlury  of 
Canada,  (V.  439,— published  since  my  investiKation  was  made),  who  says  in  regard  to 
Montgomery's  apiwarance :  — "  It  was  a  rare  case  when  the  Canadians  showed  disfavor 
to  the  invaders ;  many  joined  their  ranks."  As  will  be  seen  later  Mr.  Kiugsford  hovf- 
ever  is  mistaken  in  ropresentinpt  this  attitude  of  the  Canadians  as  only  temporary.  And 
that  some  more  detailed  and  circumstantial  statement  is  necessary  to  nflfect  the  general 
error,  is  shown  by  the  wide  extent  of  its  assertion  and  its  constant  repetition.  Lecky 
says  in  regard  to  the  American  invasion :  "The  Canadians  remained  loyal  to  England  . .  ■ 
The  contagion  of  New  England  republicanism  had  not  i)enetrated  to  Canada;"  the 
people  "were  especially  indignant  at  tlie  invasion."  (IV,  215).  In  a  text  book  of  the 
University  of  Toronto  it  is  asserted  that,  "  While  the  American  War  of  Independence 
was  in  progress  the  French  Canadian  iwople  remained  faithful  to  their  allegiance  and 
resisted  all  the  eflorts  of  the  Americans  to  induce  them  to  revolt  against  the  Eng- 
lish." (Bourinot,  The  ('(iiiKtiliitiiDitil  Jlint.  of  ('(iiniilri.  The  statement  is  repeated  with 
emphasis  in  the  same  writer's  l'nrUawei\tary  I'l-ocndiire  and  Pi'uclice,  Revised  ed. 
1892,  p.  13.)  It  is  needless  to  say  that  French  Canadian  writers  have  loudly  and  unan- 
imously maintained  the  same  position.  A  good  example  of  the  assertions  of  oven  the 
more  enliphtened  and  impartial  of  these  is  the  following  from  Lareau  Ulist.  Droit  Can. 
II,  148)  :  "  Cette  concession  [i.  e.  the  Quebec  Act]  do  la  part  de  I'Angleterre  out  sa  re- 
compense;  pendant  que  les  colonies  anglaises  bi'isaicnt  le  lien  colonial,  le  Canada, 
comptnnt  sur  la  justice  du  vainqueur  rosta  fidt^le  an  drapeau  britanniquo."  It  seems 
therefore  the  function  of  such  a  special  study  as  this  to  do  what  the  general  historian  of 
course  cannot,  viz.,  so  circumstantially  to  present  the  truth  as  to  place  it  forever  be- 
yond cavil. 

The  second  of  the  above  statements,— as  to  the  alienating  effect  of  the  Act,— has  not  I 
think  been  heretofore  made,  much  less  enforced. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF   QUEBEC,    1760-7G.  489 

an  Assembly,  —  we  may  conclude  to  have  been  practically 
matter  of  indifference  to  the  average  habitant.  The  pre- 
vious complaints  as  to  the  narrowing?  of  the  province  had 
sprung  from  the  greed  of  the  trader  or  the  historical  pride 
of  the  educated;  it  was  expressly  testified  by  the  most 
trustworthy  of  the  witnesses  before  the  Commons  in  1774, 
that  the  mass  of  the  Canadians  neither  knew  nor  cared  any- 
thing about  an  Assembly,  and  that  the  few  who  did  dreaded 
its  establishment  as  likely  to  bring  the  Province  into  diffi- 
culties with  the  mother  country.  With  regard  to  the  third 
provision,  —  the  reputed  establishment  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church, —  there  is  every  ground  for  believing  that 
the  French  Canadian  would  see  in  it  only  a  dreaded  and 
objectionable  feature, —  the  re-establishment  of  the  compul- 
sory tithe.  As  early  as  1762  Murray  asserts  that  the 
people  "under  sanction  of  the  capitulation  every  day  take 
an  opportunity  to  dispute  the  tithes  with  their  cur6s;"' 
and  in  the  following  year  (as  already  pointed  out),  general 
petitions  support  his  assertion  that  the  people  are  not 
anxious  for  the  continuance  of  the  hierarchy,  but  will  be 
content  with  the  preservation  of  the  priesthood  as  a  devo- 
tional and  educational  body.  Every  year  of  British  rule, 
there  can  be  little  doubt,  increased  this  attitude  of  inde- 
pendence in  regard  to  the  once  all-powerful  church.  It 
will  be  well  in  this  connection  to  rec  M  De  Tocqueville's 
remarks  in  discussing  the  isolation  ol  the  peasant  in  Old 
France  at  this  time.  He  points  out-  that  the  clergy  were 
the  only  members  of  the  superior  classes  left  in  the  coun- 
try, and  that  the  cure  would  thus  have  become  the  master 
of  the  rural  population  "s'il  n'avait  et6  rattache  lui-meme 
d'une  facon  si  6troite  et  si  visible  a  la  hi6rarchie  politique; 
en  possc'dant  plusieurs  des  privileges  de  celle-ci  il  avait  in- 
spire en  partie  la  haine  qu'elle  faisait  naitre;"  a  position 
which  he  emphasizes  in  a  note  which  points   out  an    ex- 

iCan.  Arch.,  B.  7,  p.  1.    See  above,  chapter  2. 
*  Ancien  Riyime,  B.  II,  c.  12,  with  note. 


490  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

ample  from  the  year  1767  "  de  la  mani5re  dont  les  droits 
pecuniaires  de  clerg6  lui  alienaient  les  coours  de  ceux  que 
leur  isolement  aurait  du  rapprocher  de  lui. "  As  I  have 
elsewhere  pointed  out,  there  is  no  good  reason  for  regard- 
ing the  Canadian  habitant  as  so  far  removed  from  the  state 
of  mind  of  the  peasant  in  Old  France  as  has  been  generally 
assumed.  With  regard  to  the  civil  code  provisions  of  the 
Act  (in  connection  with  which  must  be  considered  the  pre- 
vious reversion  to  the  old  forms  of  land  tenure),  it  must  be 
concluded  that  at  the  most  the  re-establishment  of  the  old 
French  civil  law,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  peasant  had 
never  discontinued  its  use,'  could  have  had  very  little 
effect  on  the  average  French  Canadian.  And  when  he  con- 
sidered that  the  tithe  had  been  made  compulsory,  and  that 
the  seigneurial  method  of  land  grant  was  again  in  full 
operation,  it  would  bp.  strange  if  he  should  not  feel  some 
apprehension  with  regard  to  the  reappearance  of  other 
old  oppressive  relations  connected  with  the  land.  I  have 
shown  above  that  'here  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
relations  between  the  seigneur  and  the  habitant,  even  early 
in  the  English  period,  were  practically  identical  with  those 
in  old  France,  and  that  no  part  of  the  changed  conditions 
had  been  so  early  and  fully  appreciated  by  the  latter  as 
their  release  from  their  former  military  and  judicial  sub- 
jection. In  their  ignorance  of  the  real  scope  of  the  new 
measure  they  would  naturally  be  apprehensive  of  the  re- 
viving of  this  old  burden ;  and  it  is  evident  that  before  as 
after  its  enactment  its  English  opponents  took  full  advan- 
tage of  their  fears  and  ignorance. 

\  ery  little  direct  evidence  has  been  found  on  this  point, 
and  still  less  that  is  free  from  suspicion.  The  British 
party,  of  course,  before  and  after  the  Act,  represented  it 
as  undesired  and  resented  by  the  mass  of  the  people.  This 
contention  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  weakened  by  the  fact 
that  a  memorial  and  petition  in  favor  of  its  main  provis- 

•  See  above,  pp.  a52-7. 


COFFIN— THE  raOVINCE  OF  QDEIJEC,   17G0-76.  491 

ions  -were  presented  in  their  name  to  Parliament  while 
deliberating  on  the  measure.'  For  Maseres'  statement 
that  these  are  not  really  representative  may  be  easily 
conceded  in  view  of  the  fact  that  of  the  fifteen  signa- 
tures, most  are  those  of  members  of  the  noblesse.-  A 
movement  of  more  importance  and  interest  has  been 
already  referred  to  in  the  account  of  the  English  pro- 
ceedings prior  to  the  Act;  it  culminated  in  an  offer  from 
some  French  leaders  in  Quebec  to  join  in  the  English  peti- 
tion for  an  Assembly  provided  that  this  should  contain  a 
request  for  the  admission  of  Catholics  to  the  House.'  On 
the  rejection  by  the  English  of  this  condition  the  matter 
dropped.  As  indicating  the  attitude  of  a  section  probably 
larger  in  number  and  certainly  more  nearly  in  accord 
with  popular  feeling  than  the  noblesse,  this  incident  is  of 
great  interest; '  but  it  is  still  of  little  value  in  the  determi- 
nation of  the  question  as  to  the  views  of  the  mass  of 
the  people  on  the  points  at  issue.  The  very  contradic- 
tory evidence  given  before  the  Commons  in  1774  by 
the  Provincial  officials  is  no  more  helpful;  it  being  evident 
that  Maseres  and  Lotbiniero  i-epresent  a  small  advanced 
portion  of  the  traders  and  professional  men,  (perhaps  also 
of  the  noblesse),  and  that  Hey  and  Carleton  speak  for  the 
clergy  and  the  bulk  of  the  noblesse.  With  regard  to  the 
first  reception  of   the  Act  by  the  people  we  have  equally 

1  For  these  see  Masdres,  Accnunl  of  thr  PnicecUini/.i,  pp.  111-Sl, 

'See  on  this  point,  Carloton's  evidence  before  Commons.  1774.  Also  English  petitions 
for  an  Assembly,  Dec,  1773  (Can.  Arch.,  Q.  10,  p.  26).  A  curious  letter  in  1776  from  one 
M.  Pelissier  to  the  President  of  ConRress  describes  the  sisners  of  tlie  French  petition  as 
"  quelqnes  adulateurs  [{.  e.  of  Carleton]  et  quelqes  iguorans  fanatiques  des  anciennes 
coutumes."    (4  Amer.  Arch.  IV.,  596.) 

'  See  Maseres,  Accoitiit  of  the  Procrediiifix,  pp.  ;5-40. 

*  It  is  notewortliy  also  as  indicative  of  the  rise  of  a  now  set  of  native  leaders  (distinct 
from  noblesse  and  cler(?y).  The  lawyers  and  others  of  the  lay  educated  class  who  had 
rapidly  acquired  some  insipht  into  EnKlish  political  ideas  are  ovi<lentiy  takinf^  the 
place  that  had  been  opened  up  to  them  by  the  substitution  for  the  feudal  regime  of  the 
freer  spirit  of  the  English  institutions.  The  new  attitude  is  probably  represented  by  the 
evidence  of  M.  Lotbinit^re  before  the  Commons  in  1774;  and  the  desire  for  forms  of  Eng- 
lish self-government  was  undoubtedly  inspired  by  the  hope  of  thus  giving  effect  to  the 
great  numerical  preponderance  of  the  French. 


402  IJUIiLETIN  or  TUE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

conllicting  statements.  It  was  not  to  go  into  force  till  May, 
1775.  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  published  in  the 
province  during  1774;  so  that  statements  as  to  public  opin- 
ion during  the  latter  year  probably  can  have  reference  only 
to  the  few  who  beforehand  would  become  intelligently  ac- 
quainted with  its  provisions.  Sepjtember  20,  1774,  Carleton 
writes  to  Gage  of  the  "joy  and  gratitude  and  fidelity"  of  the 
Canadians  in  consequence  of  the  late  Act,'  and  three  days 
later  he  reports  to  Dartmouth  the  great  satisfaction  of  all 
classes  of  the  French  Canadians."  Nov.  11th  ''■  he  again  speaks 
of  their  gratitude  and  represents  their  uneasiness  at  the 
measures  which  the  old  subjects  are  taking  against  the  Act. 
But  it  is  noticeable  that  he  here  refers  to  the  noblesse  and 
clergy  as  being  apprehensive  that  some  of  the  Canadians 
through  ignorance  and  from  their  trade  relations  with  the 
English,  may  be  enticed  to  join  the  latter  in  their  move- 
ments; especialy  as  they  are  being  told  that  the  late  Acts 
will  reduce  them  to  a  state  of  slavery  and  oppression.  At 
the  same  time  he  sends  addresses,  (three,  from  Montreal, 
Quebec,  and  Three  Rivers),'  expressing  the  grulitude  of 
French  Canadians ;'addresses  which  beyond  much  doubt  are 
from  precisely  the  same  quarter  as  the  petitions  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  Act.  The  one  from  Quebec  speaks 
apologetically  of  fellow-countrymen  who  "  par  des  circon- 
stances  malheureuses  '  may  have  been  drawn  into  common 
action  with  the  English  discontents.  February  4,  177^" 
Carleton  writes  further  to  Gage  that  "all  that  have  spoke 
or  wrote  to  me  upon  the  subject  express  the  most  grateful 
sense  of  what  has  been  done  for  them ;  '  but  at  the  same 
time  uses  language  in  regard  to  the  habitants  which  seems 
to  show  that  he  is  beginning  to  perceive  that  the  satisfac- 
tion and  gratitude  does  not  extend  to  them.     And  the  indi- 

I  Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  10,  p.  123. 
2 1  bid.,  Q.  10.  p.  120. 
albifl.,  Q.  11,  p.  11. 
*  Ibid.,  pp.  17-23. 
'Ibid.,  p.  290. 


COFFIN — TOE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,   1700-76.  493 

cations  of  this  soon  became  so  unmistakcable  that  even  his 
obstinate  prepossessions  could  no  longer  resist. 

Of  the  suspicious  attitude  whic-h  in  all  probability  the 
average  French  Canadian  had  maintained  in  regard  to  the 
re-establishment  of  old  opi)ressive  institutions  the  English 
discontents  had  been  quick  to  take  advantage,  magnifying 
the  provisions  which  might  seem  likely  to  operate  for  the 
revival  of  old  burdens.  We  find  Carleton  writing  Novem- 
ber 11th,  1774,'  that  the  people  are  being  told  the  most  ex- 
travagant stories  of  the  arbitrary  power  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  Governor  and  nobles.se;  and  the  French  addresses  of 
thanks  of  the  same  month  (quoted  from  above),  evidently 
imply  that  these  representations  were  already  perceived  to 
have  had  effect.  The  most  emphatic  testimony  on  this 
matter  comes  from  Masores.-'  Though  prejudiced,  and  de- 
pendent for  information  on  those  who  were  more  so,  still 
bis  assertions  here  are  so  amply  supported  by  other  evi- 
dence and  by  later  events  that  we  cannot  neglect  them. 
He  gives  a  letter  to  him  from  some  of  the  English  in  the 
province  '  which  asserts  in  the  most  positive  terms  that 
"great  numbers  throughout  the  Province  have  offered  to 
join  us  in  petitioning  for  the  continuance  of  English  laws, 
and  disavowing  their  consent  and  knowledge  of  the  peti- 
tion which  was  sent  home  last  year  in  their  names,  though 
signed  only  liy  a  few  persons  in  the  province;"  but  that 
they  have  been  prevented  from  so  joining  by  the  interven- 
tion of  their  superiors,  who  told  them  that  if  they  did  so 
they  Avould  be  deprived  of  their  religion.  More  reliable 
proof  of  the  attitude  of  the  habitant  is  furnished  in  the  fears 
entertained  by  those  who  best  knew  them.  These  are  shown 
in  a  letter  which  was  circulated  among  them  by  the  clei'gy 
in  December,  1774,  and  January,  1775,  attempting  to  reas- 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  11. 
'  See  Adttitional  Papers, 

'  For  letters  of  this  teuorand  probably  from  the  same  source,  saeAlmon's  Remembran- 
cer, II  (1776),  pp.  130-44, 


494  BCM-ETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OV  WISCONSIN. 

sure  them  on  those  provisions  of  the  Act  which  were  sup- 
posed to  have  alarmed  them.' 

The  new  constitution  went  into  force  in  the  Spring  of 
1775  and  the  hostility  of  the  people  to  it  seems  to  have 
steadily  increased.  Two  curiously  roundabout  and  discon- 
nected pieces  of  evidence  deserve  perhaps  especial  notice. 
One  is  an  otiicial  intimation  from  St.  John's  Island,  of  Oc- 
tober 13,  177"i,  to  the  effect  that  private  letters  have  been 
received  there  from  Quebec  with  the  information  that  "  the 
Canadians  have  absolutely  refused  to  join  us,  assigning  for 
reason  that  the  English  law  is  taken  away  from  them,  and 
that  as  the  King  has  broken  his  word,  they  have  a  right 
to  do  the  same. "  -  The  other  is  a  letter  of  June  20,  1775, 
from  two  New  Hampshire  agents  to  Revolutionary  leaders  in 
that  Province,  reporting  the  information  as  to  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  Canadians  that  has  been  gathered  by  Indian 
scouts.  This  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Canadians  are  wait- 
ing anxiously  for  the  appearance  of  the  Colonial  forces ; 
"  they  determine  not  to  take  their  old  law  again,  if  we  will 
but  joyn  with  them,  they  will  joyn  with  us. " '  In  August, 
1775  Chief-Justice  Hey  writes  from  Quebec  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor  that  His  Lordship  would  be  astonished  to  learn 
"  that  an  Act  passed  for  the  express  purpose  of  gratifying 
the  Canadians  and  which  was  supposed  to  comprehend  all 
that  they  either  wished  or  wanted,  is  become  the  first  ob- 
ject of  their  discontent  and  dislike;"  the  general  wish  be- 
ing for  English  laws  in  peace  and  English  officers  in  war.* 
Thomas  Gamble  of  the  provincial  commissariat  department 
writes  from  Quebec  September  6,  1775,  to  the  Deputy 
Quartermaster  General  in  en.phatic  language  concerning 

'  Anoymous,  but  said  by  Mas^res  to  be  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  one  of  the 
Quebec  Clergy.    See  Mast'res,  Account  of  the  Proceeilinf/s,  pp.  264-75. 

"Hov.  Logge  to  Gen,  Howe,  JIM,  M.is,  Comm.  11th  Jteiwrt,  App.  V.,  p.  388. 

'  X.  H.  I'roc.  Papers,  VII,  625. 

*Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  203.  Evidence  stronger  tlian  this  it  would  bo  difficult  to 
imagine.  For  it  will  be  remembered  that  Hey,  wlio  now  laments  the  failure  of  the 
Act,  had  in  large  measure  supported  Carleton  in  the  representations  on  wliich  it  was 
founded . 


COFFIN — TUK  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  495 

the  ill-disposition  of  the  people.  "In  short,  the  Quebec 
Bill  is  of  no  use;  on  the  contrary  the  Canadians  talk  of 
that  damned  absurd  word  liberty.  " ' 

It  is  only  however  when  wo  come  to  the  test  of  Canadian 
feeling  which  was  afforded  by  the  revolutionary  invasion 
of  1775-70  that  we  reach  firm  ground  in  this  matter.  Prev- 
ious to  that  event  we  have  no  definite  references  to  French 
Canadian  opinion  in  regard  to  the  troubles  in  the  other  col- 
onies. About  the  quarrel  on  its  merits  the  average  Canadian 
knew  nothing-  and  cared  little  if  anything.  On  the  other 
hand  the  revolutionists  had  from  the  beginning  seen  the  im- 
portance of  Canada,  and  begun  to  guard  against  danger 
from  that  quarter.'  I  have  already  narrated  the  earliest 
trace  that  appears  of  connection  between  the  revolution- 
ists and  the  English  party  in  Quebec.  A  few  days  later, 
(October  26,  1774),  the  first  Continental  Congress,  having 
drawn  up  those  Addresses  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain 
and  to  the  individual  colonies  in  which  the  Quebec  Act  fig- 
ured prominently  as  a  grievance,  adopted  one  also  "  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  '  Province  of  Quebec. '  "  This  is  a  skill- 
fully drawn  paper,  largely  occupied  with  an  explanation  of 
those  principles  of  English  constitutional  liberty  of  which 
the  Canadians  had  been  defrauded  by  the  Quebec  Act;  ad- 
juring them  to  disregard  religious  differences,  (for  "  the 
transcendent  nature  of  freedom  elevates  above  all  such 
low-minded  infirmities,  ")*  and  by  choosing  delegates  to  the 
ensuing  Congress  to  join  in  heartily  with  the  other  colon- 

HAMer.Arcf>.,lU,963. 

*  See  Mas^res'  IiWehohler,  written  for  their  instruction  oi  this  assumption. 

'  I  have  not  found  anywhere  any  connected  statement  ?  f  the  early  steps  of  Congress 
and  otlier  revolutionary  authorities  in  regard  to  Canada,  and  have  therefore  at- 
tempted briefly  to  supply  it. 

*The  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  which  had  referred  to  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic religion  as  having  "deluged  your  island  in  blood,  and  dispersed  impiety,  bigotry, 
I)er8ecution,  murder,  and  rebellion  throughout  every  part  of  the  world,"  had  been 
adopted  five  days  before.  It  is  probable  that  the  elevating  nature  of  freedom  has  rarely 
operated  with  greater  celerity.  The  good  work  went  on  apparently  ;  for  the  Instructions 
of  Congress  to  the  Commissioners  sent  to  Canada  in  1776  ordered  them  to  assure  the 
clergy  of  "the  fuU,  perfect,  and  peaceable  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  their 
estates."    (iAmer.  Ari'h.,  V,  p.  4!1.) 


496  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

ies,  who  bad  determined  to  "  consider  the  violation  of  your 
rights  by  the  act  for  altering  the  government  of  your 
Province,  as  a  violation  of  our  own. " '  Of  this  diplomatic 
document  a  translation  was  ordered  to  be  made,  and  2,000 
copies  to  be  struck  off  for  distribution  in  Quebec  by  means 
of  the  delegates  from  the  bordering  Provinces.  That  it  had 
been  disseminated  in  Canada  at  least  as  early  as  March  of 
the  following  year  is  shown  by  Carleton's  correspon- 
dence;^ and  that  a  revolutionary  agent  had  already  by 
that  time  met  with  much  success  is  shown  by  the  letters 
of  John  Brown.'  Definite  information  of  the  results  first 
appears  from  the  oflRcial  side  in  a  letter  of  secret  intelli- 
gence to  Carlcton  from  Montreal  of  May  6,  1775,  stating 
that  on  May  4th  most  of  the  English  residents  of  the  town 
had  assembled  and  been  "  harangued  "  by  a  "  New  Eng- 
lander, "  the  object  of  the  meeting  being  supposed  to  be, 
"  to  choose  two  deputies  to  send  to  the  Congress  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of  next  May. "  On  the 
following  day  the  same  agent  reports  that  the  attempt  had 
failed,  through  the  backing  out  of  the  most  of  the  English.* 
August  14,  1775,  Carleton  writes  lo  Dartmouth  of  the  con- 
tinued efforts  of  the  Congress  to  corrupt  the  Canadians, 
and  encloses  a  copy  of  new  letters  from  it  and  from  the 
New  York  Legislature. 

But  before  this,  Congress  had  resolved  to  make  a  mili- 
tary demonstration  against  Canada  for  the  double  purpose 
of  seizing  the  important  points,  and  of  establishing  con- 
nections between  the  revolutionary  forces  and  the  disaf- 
fected Canadians.  The  first  movement  was  one  by  Arnold 
by  way  of  Lake  Champlain  in  May,  1775,  and  on  uiws  of  it 
Carleton  called  on  the  noblesse  for  assistance  in  raising  the 
militia.     The  result  was  a  sudden  and  complete  shattering 

^  Jouryials  of  Vongrens,  I,  40-5. 

"Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  129. 

•See  especially 4 /I nmr»  Areh,,  II.  24;J,  where  Brown  speaks  of  the  peasantry  haying 
been  worked  upon,  "chiefly  in  terrorem;"  by  wliich  must  be  meant  misrepresentation 
as  to  the  Quebec  Act. 
See  above,  p.  485. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  497 

of  the  expectations  based  on  the  Quebec  Act.  Carleton 
had  wished  to  see  revived  the  old  feudal  military  condi- 
tions, and  seems  to  have  believed  that  under  the  new  set- 
tlement they  did  again  exist;  and  his  attitude,  in  connection 
with  the  consequent  efforts  of  the  noblesse,  at  once  con- 
firmed the  fears  of  the  people  as  to  the  meditated  re-estab- 
lishment of  all  the  obnoxious  powers  and  privileges  of  their 
old  masters.  This  conviction  the  latter  seem  to  have  done 
their  best  to  foster;  for  Chief  Justice  Hey  writes  to  the 
Lord  Chancellor  in  August,  1775,  of  the  just  offense  given 
to  the  people  by  the  elation  of  the  noblesse  over  the  sup- 
posed restoration  of  their  old  privileges.'  After  speaking 
further  of  the  misrepresentations  which  had  been  made  to 
the  Canadians  by  the  English  as  to  the  results  of  the  Act, 
Hey  remarks  that  as  the  restraint  of  the  sharp  authority 
by  which  they  had  once  been  controlled  was  now  removed, 
they  break  out  "  in  every  shape  of  contempt  and  detesta- 
tion of  those  whom  they  used  to  behold  with  terror,  and 
who  gave  them,  I  believe,  too  many  occasions  to  express  it. " 
Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  habitants  univers- 
ally resisted  from  the  first  every  means  of  influence  that 
the  seigneurs  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  maintaining 
firmly  that  the  latter  had  no  military  authority  and  that  all 
they  could  demand  of  their  tenantry  was  the  payment  of 
seigneurial  dues.  In  some  cases  the  noblesse  did  not  es- 
cape physical  violence.-  As  early  as  June  7,  Carleton 
writes  to  Dartmouth  of  the  utter  failure  of  the  noblesse  to 
induce  either  the  Canadians  or  the  Indians  to  take  up  arms. 
The  minds  of  the  people  he  says,  are  poisoned  with  lies, 


1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  12,  p.  20H.  See  also  Bui-Koyne  to  Germalue,  May  U,  1777.  (Ibid.,  Q.  13, 
107)  for  opinion  that  the  attitude  of  the  Canadiaiij)  is  largely  due  to  the  unpopularity  of 
the  seigneurs.  Wo  find  it  further  asserted  in  a  private  letter  of  tlie  time  from  Montreal, 
that  though  the  people  were  in  general  averse  to  being  coin:nand((d  by  the  noblesse,  they 
say  they  will  go  anywhere  under  British  ollicers.    (July  10, 1775.  4  Amer,  Arc/i,,  II,  162;J.) 

'  For  circumstantial  accounts  of  several  of  theso  occurrences  see  letters  from  Quebec 
in  MasSres,  Additional  Paper n,  pri.  71 -oo.  Also  on  tiie  general  attitude  of  the  Canadians. 
Ibid.,  np.  91-111,  147  52.  These  lett<<rs  of  course  (as  well  as  MasAres'  comments  on  them) 
are  partisan,  and  for  that  reason  I  have  not  brought  them  forward  more  prominently; 
but  in  view  of  other  evidence,  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  their  practical  truth  and  accuracy. 


498  BULLETIN  OP  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

and  the  clergy  and  noblesse  have  lost  much  of  their  old 
influence.'  The  20th  of  the  following  month  one  of  the 
military  officers  at  Quebec  writes  to  a  brother  officer  that 
not  a  single  Canadian  had  yet  been  raised  and  that  there 
was  no  hope  of  forming  a  militia.'-'  August  14  Carleton  in- 
forms Dartmouth  that  though  the  militia  has  been  organ- 
ized in  some  of  the  parishes,  "the  difficulty  I  have  found 
in  proceeding  so  far  convinces  me  until  their  minds  change, 
it  will  be  inadvisable  to  attempt  assembling  any  number  of 
them,  except  it  become  absolutely  necessary  to  try  that 
measure  for  the  defence  of  the  Province,  and  that  there  is 
no  other  resource  whatever."^ 

The  Americans  had  now  temporarily  retired,  leaving  it 
fully  understood  that  t^^^y  would  return  shortly  in  greater 
force;  and  from  this  time  on  Carleton  strained  every  nerve, 
with  the  aid  of  martial  law,  to  organize  a  defence.  His 
official  correspondence  furnishes  us  with  the  best  informa- 
tion we  can  look  for  of  the  actual  conduct  of  the  people 
in  tnis  emergency.  And  we  cannot  hesitate  to  accept  this 
evidence  at  its  full  import,  when  we  consider  that  it  is  the 
disappointed  confession  of  a  man  who  had  constantly  rep- 
resented that  people  in  another  light,  and  who  was  mainly 
responsible  for  the  measures  which  were  now  proving  so 
ineffectual.  As  of  precisely  the  same  nature  we  give  with 
his  also  tbo  reports  of  Cramah^,  who  commanded  at  Que- 
bec while  Carleton  was  defending  Montreal.  September  21, 
1775,  the  former  writes  from  Quebec  that  "  no  means  have 
been  left  untried  to  bring  the  Canadian  peasantry  to  a  sense 
of  their  duty  and  engage  them  to  take  up  arms  in  defeuce 
of  the  Province,  but  all  to  no  purpose, "  though  the  better 
classes  had  done  their  utmost  "  to  reclaim  their  infatuated 
countrymen; "  and  that  Canadians  are  actually  serving  with 

iCan.  Arch.,  Q.  U,  p.  IM.  This  is  apparnntly  Carloton's  first  perception  or  at  least 
coufession  of  the  latter  fact.  It  is  siKuiflcaut  that  two  days  later  he  proclaimed  martial 
law  throughout  the  Province. 

^Kep.  Can.  Arch.,  1885.  p.  177. 

•Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  222. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  499 

the  Americans  in  every  quarter.'     On  the  same  day  Carle- 
ton  writes  from  Montreal  to  the  same  effect,  adding  that 
"the  rebels   have   been  more   successful  with   them  [the 
habitants]  and  have  assembled  them  in  great  numbers,    .    .    . 
and  with  the  assistance  of  thf-  Canadians  have  invested  the 
forts. "  -    October  25,  1775,  he  reports  that  an  attack  made  on 
the  town  by  the  rebels,  of  whom  two-thirds  were  Cana- 
dians, had  been  repulsed,  and  that  the  success  had  had  for 
a  moment  a  good  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  surrounding  country,  who  on  the  eve  of  the  assault  had 
resisted   the  orders  to  have   all  ladders  in   the   suburbs 
brought  in.     Taking  advantage  of  this  effect,  he  says  he 
had  assembled  some  900  rdlitia  (various  other  detachments 
coming  in  had  been   attacked   and  forced  to  disperse  by 
other  parishes,  the  seigneurs  who  had  raised  them  being 
taken  prisoners),  but  that  these  are  now  disappearing  thirty 
and  forty  anight. '    November  5,  1775,  he  complains  that  his 
efforts  have  been  frustrated  hj  "  the  corruption  and  I  may 
add  by  the  stupid  baseness   of  the  Canadian  peasantry, 
who  have   not  only  deserted   their   duty,   but  numbers  of 
them  have  taken  arms  against  the  Crown.  "^    A  few  days 
later  Cramah6  sends  news  from  Quebec,  (then  invested  by 
Montgomery),  of  the   inadequacy  of  the  defending  forces, 
the  militia  he  has  having  with  difficulty  been  brought  to 
mount  guard;  adding   that  the  rebels  have  on  their  side 
the  Canadian  peasantry."    Not  long  after  he  says  that  the 
enemy  without  is  not  so  formidable  as  that  within,  and 
that  even  if  the  town  be  kept  20  battalions  will  be  needed 
to  re-capture  the  country.*    On  the  22nd  November  Carleton, 
(who  had  returned  to  Quebec  on  the  fall  of  Montreal), 
writes  of  the   "  blind  perverscness  "  and  "  unprecedented 
defection"  of  the  people,   "without  even  pretending  the 
least  cause  of  complaint."     However  with   the  defeat  of 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  11,  p.  219.  « Ibiii.,  p.  ;m. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  261.  »  Ibid.,  p.  274. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  267.  .  •  Ibid.,  p.  285. 


500  BULLETIN'  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN, 

Montgomery  and  the  retreat  of  Arnold  the  Canadians  as- 
sumed a  less  menacing  attitude  {a,  change  largely  due  no 
doubt  to  the  cantonment  among  them  by  Carle  ton  of  troops), 
and  the  Governor  writes  in  September,  1770,  that  "  there  is 
nothing  to  fear  from  them  in  prosperity  and  nothing  to  hope 
for  in  distress,  the  multitude  being  influenced  by  hope  of 
gain  or  fear  of  punishment. " ' 

Such  is  a  small  portion  of  the  testimony  of  the  main  of- 
ficers as  to  the  conduct  of  the  Canadians  in  the  hour  of 
greatest  danger;  it  is  abundantly  supported  from  the  side 
of  the  defenders  by  the  scattered  statements  of  inferior  of- 
ficials, civil  and  military,  which  my  space  will  not  allow 
me  to  dwell  upon.  I  cannot,  however,  refrain  from  again 
reverting  to  the  testimony  of  Chief-Justice  Hey,  who  all 
this  time  had  been  quietly  and  judicially  watching  the  prog- 
ress of  events  from  Quebec;  as  well  as  adding  that  of  a 
French  Canadian  witness.  August  28,  1775,  Hey  writes  (to 
the  Lord  Chancellor)'  that  the  behavior  of  the  Canadians  had 
greatly  changed  the  views  he  had  formerly  entertained  of 
them  and  that  he  is  now  convinced  their  former  good  con- 
duct was  due  only  to  fear,  and  that  no  dependence  can  be 
placed  on  them,  for  they  are  either  lerritied  or  corrupted. 
The  11th  September  following  he  adds  that  hardly  a  Canadian 
will  take  up  arms;  on  the  17th  that  "not  one  hundred  ex- 
cept in  the  towns  of  Montreal  and  Quebec  are  with  us. "  The 
French  Canadian  to  whom  I  have  referred  is  M.  Badeau,  a 
notary  of  Three  Rivers,  who  from  that  very  favorable 
point  of  observation  watched  with  royalist  sympathies  the 
progress  of  the  invasion,  and  who  has  left  the  result  for 
us  in  a  "Journal  des  operations  de  I'arm^e  americaine. "  ^ 
From  this  I  take  the  following  entries:  —  September  7th, 
1775, — Carleton  "partit  pour  Montreal  et  eut  la  douleur 
de  voir  que  plus  il  s'avancait  par  en    haut,    plus  11   trou- 

1  Can.  Arcli.,  Q.  12,  p.  188. 

"  His  letters  aro  in  journal  form. 

'  Colhxtioni  Quebec  Hist.  Society,  3d  series,  Montreal,  1871. 


COFFIN — THK   PROVINCE  OF  QCEnEf,    ITGO-TIJ.  501 

vait  ]es  habitants  opposes  a  ses  dessins.  " — Sept.  8th: 
A  draft  being  ordered  from  St.  John,  the  "  paroisses 
de  Chambly  s'^tant  mis  du  cot<^  des  Bostonnais  firent  an- 
nouncer dans  toutes  les  autres  paroisses  de  ne  point  pren- 
dre les  amies  contre  les  Bostonnais,  que  ces  gens  h\  vena- 
lent  pour  nous  tirer  d'oppression,  le  peuple  canadien  cr6- 
dule  quand  il  ne  faut  point,  donna  dans  le  sentiment  des 
paroisses  de  Chambly  et  presque  toute  le  gouvernement  des 
Trois-Rivieres  refusa  de  marcher  h  Texception  de  quelques 
volontaire."  from  three  parishes. —  Sept.  12:  News  has 
been  received  that  a  detachment  of  67  recruits  which  had 
set  out  for  Montreal  under  two  seigneurs  has  been  stopped 
by  "  les  habitants  de  la  paroisse  de  Chicut, "  and  the  seign- 
eurs made  prisoners.'  —  February  29,  1776:  The  American 
detachment  in  the  town  of  Trois-Rivieres  having  ordered  a 
new  election  of  militia  officers,  one  part  of  the  inhabitants 
objected  to  the  captain  nominated  on  the  ground  that  "  il  a 
le  coeur  Anglais  et  qu'il  a  recu  de  commission  du  Gen. 
Carleton. " — April  30:  A  list  of  16  names  has  been  given 
to  the  Americans  as  comprising  all  the  royalists  in  the 
town. — May  4:  The  passing  of  some  American  troops.  "  II 
n'est  pas  possible  exprimer  combien  la  canaille  triomphe 
de  la  pass^e  de  ces  gens  la ;  il  semble  que  chaque  brigade 
leur  apporte  une  fortune." 

If  any  corroboration  of  testimony  such  as  the  above  is 
needed  it  will  be  found  in  the  reports  which  come  to  us 
from  the  continental  forces, —  in  the  letters  of  commanding 
officers  and  the  journals  of  less  prominent  persons.  August 
14,  1775,  John  Brown  had  written  that  the  Canadians,  "wish 
and  long  for  nothing  more  than  to  see  us  with  an  army 
penetrate  t.ieir  country.  They  engage  to  supply  us  with 
everything  in  their  power. "  -  The  following  September  6, 
Ethan  Allen  reports  the  conclusion  of  an  Indian  alliance 

1  Full  accounts  of  this  (most  probably)  and  other  similar  uccurreuces  will  be  found  in 
Mdxeref,  and  in  Almon's  Jiemembrunrer  for  1775. 
■To  Gov.  Trumbull,  4  Amtr.  Arch.,  II,  138. 
15 


502  BULLETIN    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    WISCONSIN. 

in  presence  "of  a  large  auditory  of  Canadians  who  ap- 
proved of  the  league,  and  manifested  friendship  to  the 
colonies,  and  testified  their  good-will  on  account  of  the 
advance  of  the  army  into  Canada." '  Schuyler  informs  the 
New  York  Congress  September  29,  that  "The  Canadians 
were  friendly  to  us  and  join  us  in  great  numbers."''  No- 
vember 3rd  an  anonymous  report  comes  from  the  River 
Sorel  that  the  Canadians  there  have  armed  and  been  em- 
bodied in  favor  of  the  Americans  to  the  number  of  more 
than  1000,'  About  the  same  time  Arnold  reports  to  Wash- 
ington his  most  kindly  and  hospitable  reception  by  the 
people.*  That  the  American  observers  were  not  deceived 
through  their  too  sanguine  expectations  may  be  inferred 
from  letters  of  Schuyler  to  Washington  in  which  the  be- 
lief is  expressed  that  the  Canadians  would  join  Carleton  if 
reverses  overtook  the  invaders;''  as  also  by  a  caution  from 
Montgomery  about  the  same  time."  But  the  latter  reports 
again  from  Montreal  November  24,  that  "I  can  have  as 
many  Canadians  as  I  know  how  to  maintain ;  at  least  I  think 
so,  while  affairs  wear  so  promising  a  prospect. " '  The  ex- 
pedition of  Montgomery  went  on  to  its  disastrous  culmina- 
tion, and  on  the  following  January  11,  Arnold  still  asserts 
that  "The  disposition  of  the  Canadians  is  very  favorable," 
though  they  "  are  timorous  and  want  encouragement. "'  Gen. 
Wooster's  report  is  however  that  "there  is  but  little  con- 
fidence to  be  placed  in  the  Canadians;  — they  are  fond  of 
being  of  the  strongest  party.""    February  27  Arnold  in- 

1  To  tton.  Schuyler.    4  ,1  inrr.  A  rch.,  Ill,  742. 

"  fbid.,  Ill,  841. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  1343.  This  soems  conflnnod  by  a  letter  of  the  same  date  from  Montgomery  to 
Schuyler,    Ibid.  Ill,  1392. 

*  All  the  Journals  of  the  Arnold  expedition  speak  in  the  same  tone.  Though  it  is  to  be 
noticed  that  several  of  them  speak  also  of  the  exceedingly  liigh  prices  charged  by  the 
Canadians  for"provisious.    See  especially  those  of  Wild,  Dearborne,  and  Thayer. 

0 i  Amer.  Arc?i.,  Ill,  1373. 

•To  Schuyler,  Decembers.    /6tU,  IV,  1392. 

'/birf.,p.  1695. 

s  To  Congress.    Ibid.,  IV.  627. 

"  Ibid.,  p,T6<58.  On  the  previous  January  2,  Arnold  had  reported  his  force  as  including 
400  Canadians.    Ibid. ,  p,  670. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  503 

forms  Washington,  (apparently  referring  to  the  Canadians, 
though  there  is  obscurity,)  that  he  has  received  a  rein- 
forcement of  400  men,  and  that  many  are  daily  coming  in. ' 
An  officer  posted  at  Trois  Rivieres  writes  March  24,  1766, 
that  he  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  the  business  of  re- 
placing in  that  District,  (comprising  17  parishes,)  the  mili- 
tia officers  appointed  by  Carleton  with  others  in  the  Conti- 
nental interest,  and  that  he  finds  that  though  the  Canadians 
are  sometimes  shy,  "  in  general  they  seem  to  be  fond  of  hold- 
ing commissions  under  Congress;"  that  about  thirty  such 
officers  have  been  elected  in  the  District  and  that  late 
Canadian  recruits  number  500.  ■^  In  March  the  Commission- 
ers of  Congress,  (Franklin,  Chase,  and  Carroll),  set  out  for 
Canada.  On  their  arrival  they  found  a  surprising  change 
in  the  attitude  of  the  Canadians;  but  while  dwelling  on  the 
fact  and  its  causes  they  still  think  it  possible  "to  regain 
the  affections  of  the  people,  to  attach  them  firmly  to  our 
cause. "  ^  Gen.  Thomas  informs  Congress  May  7,  that  the 
French  had  become  so  much  disaffected  that  it  was  now 
very  difficult  to  get  supplies  from  them ;  *  and  a  few  days 
later  Arnold  writes  from  Sorel  that  he  is  "  convinced  they 
are  in  general  our  bitter  enemies. "  ■'  But  still  on  the  follow- 
ing June  1,  the  more  sanguine  Sullivan  reports  "  the  lower 
and  some  of  the  higher  class  of  French  people  in  our 
favor, "  and  that  he  had  that  day  been  offered  GOO  men  from 
three  parishes."  June  5tb.  he  writes  to  Washington  of  the 
despair  of  thj  people  at  the  leaving  of  the  Americans  and 

1  4  Ariiev.  Arch.,  IV,  p.  674. 

''Ibid.,  V.  481.  The  uew  officers  were  chosen  by  popular  election,  and  it  is  re- 
ported that  in  some  parishes  there  have  been  several  candidutos  and  high  party  feelinnr. 
"I  receive  informatiou  that  bribery  and  corruption  is  already  beKinuing  to  creep  into 
their  elections.  At  some  the  disputes  run  so  high  that  I  am  obliged  to  interfere."  That 
similar  elections  took  place  in  the  District  of  Montreal  is  showu  by  a  letter  of  0«n. 
Wooster.    5  Aiiifi:  Arch.,  1. 12. 

'  See  letters  of  the  Commissioners  of  Congress,  May  1  and  8, 1776.  Lossing  ,  Sohuyler 
II.  48-50.    See  also  an  important  letter  from  Col.  Hazun  to  Schuyler.    Ibid.,  pp.  44-7. 

*A  Amcr.  Arch. ,y  I.  i5l. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  580. 

«  Ihid.,  p.  679. 


504  HULLKTIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

of  their  joy  at  his  arrival.  "  It  really  was  affecting  to  see  the 
banks  of  the  Sorel  lined  with  men,  women  and  children,  leap- 
ing and  clapping  their  hands  from  joy  to  see  me  arrive.  .  .  . 
Our  affairs  have  taken  a  strange  turn,  .  .  .  The  Canadians 
are  flocking  by  hundreds  to  take  a  part  with  us.  ...  I  really 
find  by  the  present  behaviour  .  .  .  that  the  only  reason  of 
their  disaffection  was  because  our  exertions  were  so  feeble 
that  they  doubted  much  of  our  success,  and  even  of  our 
ability  to  protect  them  .  .  .  ;  a  vast  majority  will  be  for  us, 
and  perhaps  as  many,  according  to  their  numbers,  are 
really  in  our  favor  as  in  some  other  colonies  upon  the 
Continent;  many  of  them  are  with  Gen.  Thompson  in  this 
expedition  and  great  numbers  are  here,  ready  equipped, 
waiting  my  orders. " '  And  even  after  the  final  break-up  had 
come  Sullivan  reports  that  "  the  Canadians  were  in  general 
very  kind  to  them  upon  their  retreat,  and  gave  them  every 
assistance  in  their  power."  -  That  Canadians  remained  en- 
rolled in  considerable  numbers  till  the  end  is  shown  by  the 
General  Orders  of  July  21,  1776,  directing  the  march  to 
Albany  of  "the  Regiment  of  Canadians  with  all  the  Cana- 
dian families,  now  at  Ticonderoga. "  ' 

From  the  above  testimony  it  is  very  evident  not  only 
that  the  Canadians  had  overwhelmingly  declared  in  favor 
of  the  invaders  from  the  first  down  till  the  disaster  at 
Quebec,  but  that  even  after  that  event  a  considerable  num- 
ber clung  to  the  colonial  cause  and  were  still  ready  at  any 
moment  to  attach  themselves  to  any  enterprise  of  vigor 
sufficient  to  give  any  promise  of  success.  The  ordinary 
judgment  with  regard  to  their  conduct  both  from  the  British 
who  saw  in  their  neutrality  even  only  the  basest  ingrati- 
tude, and  from  the  Americans  who  experienced  a  very 
considerable  change  in  the  later  months  of  disaster,  is  not 
sufficient  or  satisfactory     According  to  this  the  people 

14  Amer.  Arch.,  VI.  921.    Tlieso  extravajjant  asiiertions  are  answered  by  Washiagton 
with  a  caution  ai^ainst  fickleness  and  treachery.    (Ibid.,  p.  927.) 

» Ibid.,  VI.  loav. 

»5  ^w»€r.^rc/i.,  1.656. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-76.  505 

were  moved  mainly  by  fear  anu  the  desire  of  being  on  the 
stronger  side;  they  embraced  or  acquiesced  in  that  cause 
which  was  for  the  moment  locally  predominent.'  But  to 
say  that  the  Canadians  were  a  timid  race  is  to  disregard 
wholly  the  facts  of  their  military  origin  and  training,  and 
especially  the  strong  testimony  from  both  sides  to  their 
valor  and  conduct  under  the  most  disheartening  circum- 
stances in  the  last  war.  Nor  is  it  sufficient  to  say  that 
they  had  no  interest  in,  as  no  knowledge  of,  the  present 
colonial  quarrel;  that  they  had  been  growing  prosperous, 
had  devoted  themselves  wholly  to  the  repairing  of  the 
ravages  of  the  old  struggle,  and  were  now  anxious  only  to 
be  left  in  peace.  The  inevitable  result  of  such  a  temper 
would  have  been  the  offering  to  the  invader  of  their  peace, 
if  not  active  opposition,  at  least  a  stolid  and  hostile  indif- 
ference; from  which,  as  we  have  seen,  their  real  conduct 
could  not  have  been  further  removed.  And  this  further- 
more, takes  no  account  of  the  strong  influences  that  were 
brought  to  bear  on  the  people  from  the  British  side.  The 
chief  of  these  were  the  strenuous  measures  resorted  to  by 
the  clergy.  Admitting  all  I  have  said  as  to  the  decreasing 
command  of  the  popular  mind  by  the  church,  it  must  still 
be  admitted  that  for  an  indifferent  community,  the  extreme 
step  of  refusing  absolution  to  any  one  who  had  joined  the 
invaders,  might  be  supposed  to  have  been  a  most  powerful 
deterrent.  Yet  we  are  told  that  every  priest  in  the  country 
except  one  had  taken  this  course.-    That  the  step  was  en- 

1  Frequent  assertions  of  this  Icind  are  to  bo  found,  esi)eciiill,v  from  tlie  British  side. 
As  early  as  September  6,  1775, Ethan  Allen  reports  that  the  Canadians  "keep  under 
arms  throughout  most  of  their  parishes,  and  are  now  anxiously  watchinR  the  scale  of 
power."     HA)iii'r.  Ai'ch.,  III.  742). 

»  See  Col.  Hazon  to  Antill,  Ai)ril  20,  1776.  Can.  Arch.,  B.  27,  p.  398.  See  also  letter  of 
Col.  Caldwell  (British),  in  Transiictions  Quebec  Lit.  and  Hist.  Society,  Now  Series, 
Pt.  8(1871).  Al»o  Jones,  KipedUioii  to  Ca nn:f<i ,  p. '.ii.  For  the  general  attitude  of  tho 
clergy  see  Joiirmil  of  Chas.  Carroll,  (Md.  Hist.  Society,  1876),  Introd.  Mem.,  pp.  ;i0-4. 
This  shows  that  their  faithfulness  was  based  not  only  on  the  general  British  treatment 
and  the  Quebec  Act,  but  also  on  strong  and  well  founded  suspicion  of  the  tolerance  of 
the  colonists.  Later  however,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  French  alliance,  there  are  in- 
dications in  Oct.  Ualdimand's  correspondence  of  disaffection  even  here. 


606  BULLETIN   OF    THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    WISCONSIN. 

tirely  -without  efficacy  can  not  be  supposed;  no  doubt  it 
did  much  to  prevent  a  more  open  and  general  rising.'  That 
any  defection  occurred  in  the  face  of  it  must  be  taken  as 
the  strongest  proof  that  the  Canadians  were  neither  timid 
nor  indifferent,  but  that  they  conceived  themselves  to  have 
strong  ground  for  discontent  and  apprehension.  Their 
national  feeling  was  not  yet  involved,  for  there  was  as  yet 
no  open  connection  between  the  revolution  and  France.  In 
the  entire  absence  of  evidence  of  the  existence  before  the 
Quebec  Act  of  such  discontent  or  apprehension  as  would 
now  explain  their  conduct,  we  are  driven  for  that  explana- 
tion to  the  Act  itself.  It  seems  not  too  much  to  say  that, 
supplemented  as  it  was  by  the  misrepresentation  of  its  op- 
ponents, and  still  more  by  the  most  ill  advised  attempt 
to  establish  through  it  the  old  military  position  of  the 
noblesse,  it  drove  the  people  into  the  arms  of  the  revolu- 
tionists. 

But  it  is  further  necessary  to  show  that  the  defection  of 
the  Canadians  at  this  crisis  was  not  the  momentary  effect 
of  sudden  panic  or  of  a  passing  wave  of  popular  feeling.^ 
Active  misrepresentation  might  go  far  to  explain  such; 
though  only  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  English  agitators 
and  the  colonial  emissaries  had  suddenly  acquired  an  influ- 
ence very  much  greater  than  the  natural  leaders  of  the 
people.  The  Quebec  Act  went  into  force  May  1,  1775,  and 
was  superseded  on  the  following  June  9  by  a  condition  of 

'  See  "  Journal  of  the  Principal  Occurrences  (luring  the  Sietjo  of  Quebec  .  .  ;  col- 
lected from  some  old  MS8  originally  written  by  an  officer  during;  tlie  Period  of  the  gallant 
Defense  made  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton."  (London,  1824.)  Tiiis  refers  to  tlie  action  of  the 
clergy  in  refusing  the  sacraments,  especially  extreme  unction,  as  "  a  most  potent  spell, ' ' 
and  therein  finds  the  cause  for  the  fact  asserted  [incorrect]  that  only  about  liOO  Cana- 
dians joined  the  invaders. 

;■  '  This  seems  to  be  the  position  taken  by  Mr.  Kingsford,  who  has  stated  clearly  the 
first  defection,  but  who  later  (V.  486),  says:  "It  is  simply  a  duty  to  record  that  this 
feeling  passed  rapidly  away,  and  never  again  obtained  activity.  During  the  period  of 
the  whole  struggle,  the  French  Canadians  remained  attached  to  the  British  government, 
and  no  encouragement  was  given  for  a  second  invasion  of  the  Province."  This  positive 
ajBsertion  however  is  not  to  be  reconciled  with  facts  which  are  stated  in  a  later  volume 
(VII.  pp.  11-14;  30). 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-70.  507 

martial  law  that  continued  about  eighteen  months;  conse- 
quently before  1777  the  people  were  not  in  a  position  to 
judge  of  or  be  inllueneed  by  it  except  as  a  matter  of  specu- 
lation. But  misrepresentation  as  to  it  ought  certainly  to 
have  been  dispelled  long  before  that  time' ;  from  the  spring 
of  1775  the  government  was  in  a  position  to  do  the  worst 
that  could  have  been  apprehended.  Nevertheless  we  find 
still  in  existence  throughout  the  war  a  strong  popular  lean- 
ing toward  the  continental  cause.  There  was  of  course  no 
occasion  or  opportunity  for  open  demonstrations;  we  must 
judge  by  the  reports  of  the  provincial  officials.  The  value 
of  these  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  the  conclusions  arr- 
ived at  were  not  hastily  formed  or  insufficiently  grounded, 
but  were  the  result  of  the  most  careful  examination  by  the 
best  methods  available  into  the  real  sentiments  of  the  body 
of  the  people,  not  as  before  of  the  few  who  had  thrust  them- 
selves forward  as  their  spokesmen.  A  vigorous  investi- 
gation was  set  on  foot  by  Carleton  and  continued  by  his 
successor  Haldimand,  and  in  the  autumn  months  of  1776 
we  meet  with  froquent  examinations  by  the  judicial  author- 
ities of  suspected  persons  and  of  intercepted  emissaries 
from  the  revolted  colonies.  These  were  continued  all 
through  the  period  down  to  the  conclusion  of  peace  (and 
therefore  long  after  the  civil  government  had  been  re-es- 
tablished). It  will  be  impossible  to  go  into  them  fully,  but 
the  calendaring  of  the  Haldimand  Collection  by  the  Canadian 
Archivist^  will  afford  an  easy  and  accurate  index  to  their 
contents.     Further,  we  find  that  after  the  retreat  of  the 

1  It  will  be  remembered  however  that  this  point  is  not  material  to  my  main  inquiry. 
That  is  directed,  not  toward  the  practical  working  and  effect  of  the  Act,  but  with  refer- 
ence to  the  question  as  to  wliether  the  measures  it  embodied  wore  as  necessary  and 
politic  at  this  juncture  as  thoy  have  always  been  represented  by  its  upholders.  The 
matter  may  be  summed  up  in  the  questions:  Were  the  French  Canadians  laboring 
under  such  grievances  as  to  make  welcome  tlie  measures  adopted  for  their  relief,  and  to 
cause  these  measures  to  have  over  them  the  expected  influence?  In  view  of  the  acknowl- 
edged effect  of  the  Quebec  Act  on  the  minds  of  the  American  revolutionists,  was  it 
nevertheless  justified  as  a  matter  of  policy  by  its  effect  on  the  French  Canadians^ 

»  See  Rep,  Can.  Arch.,  1888,  pp.  892-942,  and  ihkl.,  1890,  p.  130. 


508  BULLKTIN   OF   THE    CNIVERSITY   OF   WISCONSIN. 

Americans,  Carle  ton  had  caused  troops  to  be  cantoned 
through  the  parishes,  and  had  thus  kept  himself  informed  of 
the  state  of  public  feeling.  Ried6sel,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  Gorman  auxiliaries,  writes  to  Haldimand  November 
29,  1787,  that  Carleton  had  given  him  a  commission  to  learn 
the  sentiments  and  conduct  of  the  habitants  in  the  districts 
in  which  the  German  troops  were  quartered  in  177G;  that 
he  (Riedl'sel)  had  procured  the  information  from  the  cap- 
tains of  militia,  the  cur6s,  and  the  commanders  of  the 
troops,  had  sent  the  same  to  Carleton,  and  had  received  his 
thanks  therefor.  He  adds  that  he  has  still  duplicates  and 
will  send  them  to  Haldimand  if  desired.'  And  that  the 
latter  availed  himself  of  this  means,  is  shown  by  a  sec- 
ond letter  to  him  of  Riedesel  in  the  following  April,  stat- 
ing that  as  desii'ed  he  has  traversed  the  parishes  of  his  own 
district  several  times,  and  has  compared  information  got 
from  the  militia  captains,  from  the  cur6s,  and  from  the 
German  commanders,  and  that  he  sends  as  a  result  the  ad- 
joined lists  of  names.  In  the  Canadian  Archives  we  find 
further  a  collection  of  papers  marked  "Instructions  to  Cap- 
tain Breckenridge,  sent  to  find  out  the  people  that  har- 
boured the  rebel  spies,  with  the  report  of  his  proceedings 
in  1780."- 

These  facts  mark  the  care  exercised  by  the  Government 
in  at  least  their  later  reports.  The  various  depositions 
show  that  emissaries  from  Congress  and  disaffected  persons 
within  the  province  were  constant  in  their  activity  among 
the  people  through  the  whole  period;  and  the  frequent 
bitter  references  of  Haldimand  to  the  impossibility  he 
finds  in  catching  or  tracing  these  firebrands''  is  sufficient 
proof  in  itself  of  the  more  than  passive  sympathy  of  the 
people.     The    salient  points   of   the   official    reports   will 

'Calendar  Hald.  Coll.,  p.  390.  See  here  also  for  the  letters  of  the  foliowiuK  April, 
spoken  of  below.  It  will  bo  seen  that  Riedesel  uses  the  words  "lists,"  showing  how 
minute  the  enquiry  and  information  was. 

•'Report  Can.  Arch,  for  1888,  p.  906. 

'  Cal.  Hald.  Coll.,  pp.  272,  236.  (Early  in  the  period  Carleton  complains  that  the  emis- 
saries of  Congress  can  travel  with  more  ease  and  safety  than  the  King's  messengers.)  , 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  509 

be  best  noted  in  brief  extracts  chronologically  arranged. ' 
May  9th,  1770,  Carleton  sends  home  the  Ordinances  that 
had  just  been  passed  in  the  first  legislative  meeting  in 
the  Province  uader  the  new  constitution,  and  adds  that 
these  "  have  been  framed  upon  the  principle  of  securing 
the  dependence  of  this  Province  upon  Great  Britain,  of 
suppressing  that  spirit  of  licentiousness  and  independ- 
ence that  has  pervaded  all  the  British  Colonies  upon  this 
continent,  and  was  making,  through  the  endeavors  of  a 
turbulent  faction  here,  a  most  amazing  progress  in  this 
country."  In  the  same  month  he  writes  to  Burgoyne  that 
"  these  people  have  been  governed  with  too  loose  a  rein 
for  many  years,  and  have  imbibed  too  much  of  the  Ameri- 
can spirit  of  licentiousness  and  independence  to  be  sud- 
denly restored  to  a  proper  and  desirable  subordination." 
This  letter  was  in  answer  to  complaints  from  Burgoyne 
concerning  the  difficulty  he  found  in  procuring  enough  Ca- 
nadians to  perform  the  necessary  batteaux  service  for  his 
expedition;  —  a  difficult}'  to  the  serious  nature  of  which 
we  have  various  further  references,  the  Canadians  even 
when  started  deserting  at  every  opportunity  and  frequently 
refusing  obedience.  In  the  spring  of  1778  Carleton  was  re- 
placed in  the  Governorship  by  Haldimand,  and  the  first 
official  communication  of  the  latter  (July  25,  1778),  is  to  the 
effect  that  beyond  the  upper  classes  and  clergy  "  the  Cana- 
dians are  not  to  be  depended  upon  especially  if  a  French 
War  breaks  out. "  -  In  October  of  the  same  year  he  writes 
of  the  caution  he  is  exercising,  "not  to  make  demands  that 
from  exciting  murmurs  might  lead  to  a  declaration  of  senti- 
ments which  the  French  Alliance  with  the  rebels  has  un- 
doubtedly raised  in  numbers  of  them,  who  in  regard  of  the 
rebellion  were  unquestionably  attached  to  Government,  and 
renewed  in  the  others;  —  the  symptoms  of  which  change  in 

1  For  exact  references  see  the  Reports  Can.  Arch.,  as  above. 

^  This  and  the  immediately  following  letters  are  from  the  Haldimand  Collection.    See 
Calendar,  in  Jieports  Can.  Arch.,  under  dates. 


510  BULLETIN   OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

the  Canadians  is  everywhere  manifest."  June  7th,  1779,  he 
states  that  "  the  Canadian  inhabitants  both  above  and  be- 
low "  had  "become  adherent  to  the  united  car  '^f  France 
and  the  Americans."  By  "above"  he  seems  to  mean  in 
the  Western  region,  for  the  letter  is  written  in  connection 
with  the  failure  in  that  quarter  of  an  important  expedition 
under  Hamilton  against  Vincennes  and  other  posts;  writing 
to  Germaine  in  the  following  year '  Hamilton  speaks  bitterly 
of  the  unlooked  for  treachery  and  unexampled  ingratitude 
of  the  Canadians.  The  testimony  shows  therefore  the  wide- 
spread nature  of  the  dissafection.-  June  18,  1779,  Haldi- 
mand  writes  further  in  regard  to  the  French  alliance  and 
the  proclamation  to  the  Canadians  of  d'Estaing,  commander 
of  the  French  fleet,  that  "any  considerable  misfortune  hap- 
pening to  me  just  now  would  raise  the  whole  country  in 
arms  against  us;  and  this  opinion  is  not  founded  upon  dis- 
tant and  precarious  information,  but  upon  a  precise  infor- 
mation of  the  general  disposition  of  the  inhabitants. "  '  Oc- 
tober 25, 1779,  he  says  that  he  believes  the  appearance  of  the 
enemy  "  would  be  followed  by  the  revolt  of  a  great  part 
of  the  province.  '  * 

1  Can.  Arch.,  Q.  18,  p.  P. 

"  There  seems*  to  Ije  no  que.stion  that  the  F''c<uch  CHnadlans  scattered  throiiKh  the 
northwestern  regions  favored  the  revolutionai'y  cause  more  or  less  actively  throughout 
tho  war.  See  on  this  Roosevelt,  M'tunini/  of  thr  M'<:st,  I,  and  Hinsdale,  OW  Xarthu'est, 
pp.  150-9.  In  regard  to  the  expedition  of  George  Rogers  Clark  the  latter  says,  "  It  is 
perfectly  clear  that  had  tliey  [the  French  Canadians]  taken  the  side  of  the  British,  Clark 
could  never  have  done  his  work."     (p.  159.) 

'This  latter  statement  is  to  be  carefully  noted.  For  the  sources  of  information  see 
above. 

*  Ah  part  of  the  investigation  of  this  matter  from  another  stand^Kjint  it  may  be  worth 
seeing  how  much  help  tlie  government  actually  received  from  the  French  Canadians  in 
the  defense  of  the  Province.  Die  material  wo  have  is  suttlcient  t«show  that,  the  state- 
ment of  Hey  above  was  almost  literally  true ;  that  outside  tho  noblesse,  not  more  than 
100  actually  bore  arms  in  any  sort  of  fashion  at  any  time  during  the  iieriod.  Nov.  16, 
1775  the  number  of  Canadian  militia  at  Quebec  is  officially  given  as  'M),  May  1,  1766,  as 
608;  there  is  no  likelihood  that  it  over  exceeded  this  latter  figure.  Outside  of 
the  town  of  Quebec  there  were  practically  none  in  arras.  May  6,  1779,  Haldimand 
writes  to  an  oflicor  (apparently  in  answer  to  an  offer  of  service),  that  the  raising  of  200 
or  !?00  Canadians  at  that  time  would  be  a  much  more  diflicult  operation  than  lie  (the 
oflicor)  imagined ;  from  which  and  other  indications  we  may  conclude  that  verj  few  if 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OP  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  511 

The  above  examination  has  been  directed  solely  to  the 
conduct  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  bourgeois^  and  habitant. 
The  clergy  and  the  noblesse  remained  faithful,  though  un- 
mistakable indications  of  wavering  were  to  be  perceived 
even  amongst  them  after  the  conclusion  of  the  French  ail- 
any  Canadians  of  tiio  class  we  refer  to  were  tlien  in  arms.  Among  tl;a  military  papers 
we  have  complete  conimi^^iiariai  returns  givinp  the  description  ai'il  number,  moutlily,  of 
the  'Uflorent  classes  to  whom  rations  were  issued,  and  from  these  I  liave  extracted  the 
numoers  set  down  as  "  Canadians  "  from  Nov.,  1778,  to  the  end  of  1780.  This  most  prob- 
ably includes  those  upon  corvee  service,  whicli  was  i)erformod  during  tlie  summer  months. 
In  these  montlis  the  averaRe  amounts  to  from  HdO  to  6(K);  outside  of  them  to  not  more 
than  50.  This  is  for  the  wliole  Province  and  apparently  for  all  classes  of  Canaciians.  It 
shows  that  even  fewer  were  under  service  in  tlie  later  years  than  in  tliose  I  have  more 
fully  considered,  and  warrants  the  conclusion  tliat  outside  of  tlie  actual  service  piven 
by  about  liiO  noblesse  and  by  about  the  same  number  of  the  better  class  of  bourgeois, 
the  people  (embracinpt  l.''),000  able  bodied  men),  contributed  practically  notliing  toward 
the  defense  of  the  Province. 

'  I  have  referred  above  to  the  Ixiiiruro' lic  generally  as  av)parently  not  sufficiently 
differentiated  from  the  hohilant.i  to  'astify  a  close  separate  esamination.  In  the 
main  this  may  also  be  concluded  of  their  conduct  at  tliis  crisis ;  but  au  exception  must 
be  made  with  regard  to  a  few  of  the  better  situated.  The  approving  notices  of  the 
government  class  with  the  noblesse  and  clergy  the  better  sort  of  the  ".bourgeoisie  "  or 
"citizens."  But  that  these  references  are  really  applicable  only  to  a  very  small  num- 
ber,—the  government  vision  here,  as  in  the  representations  previous  to  the  Quebec  Act, 
being  cognizant  only  of  those  whoso  position  brought  them  into  prominence,  —is  abun- 
dantly proved  by  the  exact  stat<?ments  given  of  the  number  of  French  Canadians  who 
took  part  .a  the  defence  of  Montreal  and  Quebec.  The  population  of  the  towns  to- 
gether must  have  been  about  20,(XX)  (in  1705  was  14,700),  of  which  eight-tenths  would 
come  under  the  class  we  are  considering.  Yet  we  find  that  not  more  tiian  500  Canadians 
of  all  classes  took  part  in  the  defence  of  Quebec,  and  Carleton  writes  from  Montreal 
(then  closely  invested  by  Montgomery),  Oct.  28,  1775,  that  the  walls  a-  i  defenceless, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  a  guard  for  the  gates  could  be  procured  from  tlie  militia.  Later  he 
writ«s  from  Quebec  that  though  it  could  hold  out  if  the  townsmen  could  be  depended 
upon,  there  are  so  many  traitors  within  that  a  successful  defence  is  very  doubtful, 
Jan.  11,  1776,  Arnold  reports  from  before  Quebec  that  he  has  been  assured  that  more  than 
one-half  of  the  inhabitants  would  willingly  open  the  gates.  July  25,  1778,  Haldimand 
classes  "  some  part  of.the  bourgeoisie  in  the  towns  "  with  the  noblesse  and  clergy  as  not 
included  in  his  statement  that  the  Canaiiians  were  not  to  be  depended  upon.  But  in 
September  of  the  following  year  he  complains  of  the  unlooked  for  ingratitide  of  even 
the  better  sort.  On  the  whole  there  seems  to  be  no  ground  for  supi)osing  that  in  this 
crisis  any  more  tlian  in  their  general  attitude,  the  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
differed  essentially  in  sentiment  from  those  of  the  country  ;  though  it  is  evident  that  in 
the  narrow  compass  of  the  towns,  directly  under  the  otticial  eye,  it  would  bo  impossible 
for  disaffection  to  be  so  openly  shown  as  in  tlie  ojjen  imrestraint  of  the  widespread 
country  settlements.  It  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the  section  of  the  bourgeoisie  which 
showed  decided  attachment  to  the  cause  of  Government  was  made  up  mainly  of  those 
closely  connected  in  various  ways  with  the  official  or  higher  classes,  or  of  those  who 
were  more  or  less  directly  influenced  by  English  commercial  relations. 


512  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

iance.     This  was  to  be  expected  however;  and  it  will  be 
remembered    that    the    same  national   instinct    would    be 
operative  with  the  mass  of  the  people  also  after  that  event. 
I  have  spoken  above  of  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  clergy 
in  the  early  years  in  behalf  of  the  established  government. 
The  noblesse  seem  at  the  same  time  to  have  enlisted  for 
the  defence  of  the  Province  almost  to  a  man.     As  late  as 
October,  1780,  Haldimand  writes  that  "  the  Quebec  Act  alone 
has  prevented  or  can  in  any  degree  prevent  the  emissar- 
ies of  France  and  the  rebellious  colonies  from  succeeding 
in  their  efforts  to  withdraw   the  Canadian  clergy   and  no- 
blesse from  their  allegiance  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain."' 
This  may  be  correct  for  the  time  at  which  it  was  written 
(after  the  French  alliance),  but  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose it  so  for  the  earlier  more  critical  years.     The  heredi- 
tary feeling  of  hostility  to  the  British  colonies  was  very  vivid 
among  the  noblesse,   the  leaders  of  the  old  border  wars. 
They  were  also  naturally  prejudiced  against  the  forms  of 
government   and    the  constitution   of    society    prevailing 
throughout  these  colonies;  institutions  which  had  now  be- 
come all  the    more  distasteful   from    their   supposed  in- 
fluence in  the  lately-developed  independent  attitude  of  the 
Canadian  peasantry.     The  noblesse  had  been  well  treated 
by   the    English    authorities    in   Quebec;    the    aristocratic 
governors  had  deferred  constantly  to  them  in  all  matters, 
and  had  steadily  held  out   hopes  of  employment  and  the 
restoration  of  old  privileges;   in  no  particular  whatever 
could  they  look  for  the  same  degree  of  favor  or  influence 
from  a  connection  with  the  doubtful  cause  of  the  rebellious 
colonies.     Previous  to  the    French   alliance,    no   influence 
whatever  can  be  discovered  which   was  likely  to  incline 
thfc  n  in  the  least  toward  the  continental  cause;  all  the  ma- 
terial conditions  and  every  instinct  of  caste  and  education 
operated  to  range  them  on  the  imperial  side.     After  the 
French  alliance,  the  British  hold  was  too  firmly  established 

iCan.  Arch.,  B.  5»,  p.  ;r)4. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7r).  513 

in  the  Province  for  their  defection  to  have  made  any  diff- 
erence. At  no  time  as  I  have  shown ,  could  they  have  thrown 
into  the  scale  the  weightof  more  than  their  own  small  num- 
ber. Indeed  there  is  strong  reason  to  believe  that  if  they  had 
embraced  the  colonial  cause,  that  fact  alone  would  have  done 
much  to  place  the  mass  of  the  people  on  the  opposing 
side. 

As  to  the  clergy  the  same  course  of  argument  applies, 
with  the  addition  of  the  fact  that  the  church  in  Canada 
was  convinced  of  the  intolerant  temper  of  the  colonists  in 
regard  to  their  religion,  and  was  well  aware  that  at  the 
most  it  could  not  hope  in  that  connection  for  as  much  as 
it  had  enjoyed  in  Quebec  from  the  conquest.  There  is 
no  reason  whatever  to  believe  that  in  any  event  would  the 
clergy  in  those  earlier  years  have  refrained  from  active 
opposition  to  the  continental  cause. 

It  must  therefore  be  concluded  that  the  Quebec  Act  had 
added  no  element  of  strength  to  the  British  cause  in  the 
Province;  that  on  the  contrary,  while  it  had  confirmed  the 
allegiance  of  those  whose  allegiance  needed  no  confirma- 
tion, it  had  been  the  main  cause  of  the  disaffection  of 
those  who  otherwise  would  have  been  at  least  quiescent. 

B.     The  Failure  of  the  Ametlcan  Expeditions. 

If  the  conclusion  reached  above  be  correct,  we  are  con 
fronted  with  a  difficulty  in  the  utter  failure  of  the  expedi- 
tion. It  might  not  unreasonably  be  concluded  that  such 
a  failure  bears  strongly  against  the  position  I  have  taken; 
that  if  the  Canadians  were  thus  so  favorably  disposed 
toward  the  invaders,  the  utmost  vigor  and  ability  on  the  part 
of  the  few  British  defenders  would  have  been  v;holly  inade- 
quate to  the  prevention  of  the  definite  attachment  of  the  Pro- 
vince to  the  Revolutionary  cause.  To  answer  this  objec- 
tion it  will  be  necessary  to  view  the  enterprise  from  the 
American  side  to  see  if  any  other  factors  enter  into  the 
situation.     Such  I  think  will  be  found  to  be  the  case;  it 


514  BULLETIN   OP    THE    UNIVER8ITT   OF    WISCONSIN. 

will  be  found  that  not  only  did  the  revolutionists  fail  to 
make  any  effective  use  of  the  Canadian  alliance,  but 
that  by  the  mismanagement  and  misconduct  of 
both  officers  and  men,  the  Canadians  were  from  the  first 
impressed  with  the  incapacity  of  their  would-be  emanci- 
pators, and  were  gradually  driven  by  actual  ill-treatment 
to  neutrality  if  not  to  hostility.  The  favorable  moment 
was  let  slip  and  did  not  return.  With  the  spring  of  1776 
not  only  was  the  British  force  strengthened  to  a  degree 
which  enforced  caution  upon  the  most  hostile  of  the 
peasantry,  but  by  that  time  that  peasantry  had  had  its 
revolutionary  fervour  cooled  by  treatment  as  arbitrary  and 
injurious  as  anything  that  could  be  expected  from  the 
dreaded  revival  of  the  conditions  of  the  old  regime.  The 
evidence  on  this  point  leaves  us  wondering,  not  at  the 
cooling  off  of  the  Canadians,  but  at  the  retention  by  them 
of  any  degree  of  respect  for  or  sympathy  with  the  revolu- 
tionary cause.  That  a  very  considerable  degree  was  re- 
tained is  shown  above,  and  the  fact  testifies  to  the  strength 
of  the  original  feeling;  but  until  the  Franco- American  alli- 
ance it  did  not  again  in  all  probability  reach  sufficient  vigor 
to  afford  any  likelihood  of  active  manifestation. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  upon  any  full  considera- 
tion of  the  invasion  of  C  anada  by  the  Revolutionary  forces 
in  1775-6;  full  accounts  already  exist  for  all  parts  of  this 
enterprise  except  for  tha,t  Canadian  side  which  it  is  here 
attempted  to  supply.  The  general  causes  assigned  for  the 
failure  of  the  movement  are  well-known,  and  it  is  assumed 
that  sufficient  explanation  thereof  is  given  under  the  heads 
of  such  apparently  unavoidable  drawbacks  as  disease  among 
the  troops,  short  terms  of  enlistment,  lack  of  ready  money. 
Even  if  these  difficulties  had  existed  in  the  degree  usually 
stated,  it  would  be  rash  to  assume  that  the  responsibility 
of  the  authorities  for  the  disaster  is  thereby  much  reduced. 
But  the  extent  of  these  obstacles  can  be  shown  to  have 
been  greatly  exaggerated.     The  degree  of  disease  among 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  515 

the  troops  would  have  been  found  a  comparatively  small 
factor  if  disease  alone  had  interfered  with  their  efficiency; 
the  lack  of  specie  was  at  no  time  a  fatal  defect.  It  seems 
very  evident  that  Congress  never  made  efforts  adequate  to 
the  degree  of  importance  attached  to  the  enterprise  by  lead- 
ing military  authorities.'  What  that  degree  was  is  shown 
by  many  emphatic  utterances.  Washington,  in  his  Instruc- 
tions to  Arnold,  September  14,  1775,  especially  impresses 
upon  him  that  the  command  is  "of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  interest  and  liberties  of  America,"  and  that  upon  it 
the  safety  of  the  whole  continent  may  depend;  further  ad- 
juring him  solemnly  to  pay  every  regard  to  the  attitude  of 
the  Canadians,  "bearing  in  mind  that  if  they  are  averse 
to  it,  [i.  e.,  the  expedition],  and  will  not  cooperate,  or  at 
least  willingly  acquiesce,  it  must  fail  of  success.  In  this  case 
you  are  by  no  means  to  i)rosecute  the  attemjjt.  The  expense 
of  the  expedition  and  the  disappointment  are  not  to  be  i)ut 
in  competition  with  the  dangerous  consequences  which  may 
ensue  from  irritating  them  against  us,  and  detaching  them 
from  that  neutrality  which  they  have  adopted.-'  "In  the  fol- 
lowing October,  R.  H.  Lee  writes  to  Washington  of  the  ex- 
pedition :  "  The  ministerial  dependence  on  Canada  is  so  great 
that  no  object  can  by  of  greater  importance  to  North  America 
than  to  defeat  them  there.  It  appears  to  me  that  we  must 
have  that  country  with  us  this  winter,  cost  what  it  may.' 

'  It  lias  been  impossible  for  me  to  outor  on  a  close  oxainitiutiou  of  the  responsibUit>  of 
Concrcss  with  rctfurd  to  its  earlier  insufficient  support  of  the  expedition.  A  severe 
view  will  1)0  found  expressed  in  very  pointed  terms  in  Lossin^'s  Schujili-r  (II.  55-7). 
Congress  is  there  charged  with  gpueral  ignorance  as  to  the  military  operations,  and 
especially  with  a  failure  to  apprehend  the  great  imi>ortance  of  the  Canadian  ones.  Its 
eflTorts  were  spasmodic  and  its  promises  rarely  fullUled  ;  it  replied  to  reports  of  the  des- 
I)erat«  condition  of  things  with  indefinite  resolutions  which  sounded  like  mockery.  In 
the  dread  of  a  standing  army  it  had  adopted  the  niinous  iiolicy  of  short  enlistments; 
jjersisting  in  this  even  when  the  evil  etl'ects  had  l)een  fully  felt.  While  appreciating  the 
difficulties  of  the  situation,  it  seems  to  me  tliat  there  are  very  strong  grounds  for  those 
reproaches.  With  regard  to  enlistment,  Richard  Smith  makes  the  following  diary  eutry 
of  proceedings  iu  Congress  January  19,  177G:  "  A  motion  that  the  new  troops  to  iulisted 
for  3  years  or  as  long  as  the  war  shall  continue  was  opi>osed  by  the  Northern  Colonies 
«nd  carried  in  the  negative."     (-1  mei .  Hist.  Uev„  April,  ISyti,  p.  494.) 

»4  Ainei:  Arc/i.,  III.,  765. 

•4.4me/-.  ^ic/i.,III.  1137. 


51  f)  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

And  four  days  later  '  Washington  impresses  upon  Schuy- 
ler, who  was  about  to  lead  the  western  part  of  the  force, 
that  "  The  more  I  reflect  upon  the  importance  of  your  ex- 
pedition, the  greater  is  my  concern  lest  it  should  sink 
under  insuperable  difficulties.  I  look  u})on  the  interests 
and  salvation  of  our  bleeding  country,  in  a  great  degree 
to  depend  upon  your  success."  To  Arnold  in  the  following 
January  he  states  that  "To  whomsover  it  [i.  e.,  Quebec  and 
in  consequence  Canada],  belongs,  in  their  favour  probably 
will  the  balance  turn.  If  it  is  in  ours,  success,  I  think, 
will  most  certainly  crown  our  virtuous  struggles;  if  it  is  in 
theirs,  the  contest  at  least  wi-1  be  doubtful,  hazardous, 
and  bloody. "  -'  That  Congress  shared  in  this  opinion  at  a 
later  stage  at  least  is  shown  by  a  letter  from  the  President 
to  Gen.  Thomas,  May  24,  1776,  in  which  it  is  stated  that 
Canada  is  "an  object  of  the  last  importance  to  the  welfare 
of  the  United  Colonies.  Should  our  troops  retire  before 
the  Enemy  and  entirely  evacuate  that  Province,  it  is  not 
in  human  wisdom  to  foretell  the  consequences." '  On  the 
same  day  Congress  forwarded  to  the  Commissioners  in 
Canada  all  the  hard  money  it  had  been  able  to  procure;* 
sending  in  addition  about  three  weeks  later  §20,000  in 
specie  and  $190,000  in  paper.  These  funds  might  earlier 
have  had  an  important  effect  that  now  was  impossible;  that 
the  main  obstacle  was  not  now  at  least  of  a  financial  char- 
acter may  be  seen  from  the  statement  to  Congress  by  the 
Commissioners  at  Montreal,  in  May,  that  though  there  was 
plenty  wheat  and  flour  in  the  country,  "  it  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  either  could  be  procured  a  few  days  ago,  for 
ready  money. " '"  It  cannot  be  qiiestioned  of  course  that  the 
money  problem  was  present  from  the  first,  and  that  it  had 
an  important  bearing.     The  journals  of  the  Arnold  expedi- 

I  iAmer.  Arch.  p.  1196  (Oct.  26,  1776). 
'•Z6i(/.,IV.  874. 
8  Ibid.,  VI.  558. 
*  JbUI.,  p.  580. 
''Jbid.,  p.  587. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  517 

tion  show  that  however  friendly  the  Canadians  had  been  at 
the  first  contact,  they  were  even  then  thriftily  endeavoring 
to  turn  an  honest  penny  from  the  necessities  of  the  troops;  ^ 
insisting  in  some  cases  on  the  immediate  payment  of  hard 
cash.  But  this  dislike  of  paper  money  is  easy  to  under- 
stand quite  apart  from  any  special  distrust  of  the  Amer- 
icans, if  we  remember  the  ruinous  experiences  of  the  Pro- 
vince with  it  under  the  French  regime,  and  the  losses 
thus  experienced  since  the  war  in  spite  of  all  the  ef- 
forts of  the  English  Government.-'  However  friendly  in 
feeling,  the  Canadians  were  not  anxious  to  run  much  risk 
either  of  person  or  property.  But  that  they  did  risk  some- 
thing, and  that  the  failure  of  ready  money  alone  would  not 
have  seemed  to  them  a  fatal  drawback,  is  very  evident.  The 
American  force  could  not  have  existed  in  amity  a  month 
if  the  Canadians  had  not  accepted  promises,  written  and 
spoken,  in  lieu  of  hard  cash;  it  was  not  until  even  these 
promises  had  failed  and  past  ones  had  been  disgracefully 
repudiated,  that  in  combination  with  other  matters,  the 
financial  element  became  serious.  February  21,  1776, 
Wooster  informs  the  President  of  Congress  that  he 
should  soon,  in  the  absence  of  specie,  be  forced  to  "  lay 
the  country  under  contribution;  there  is  no  other  alterna- 
tive. We  have  not  by  us  one  half  money  enough  to  answer 
the  pressing  demands  of  the  country  people  to  whom  we 
are  indebted. " '  About  a  week  later  (March  4),  Arnold  issued 
a  Proclamation  giving  paper  money  currency,  "  declaring 
those  enemies  who  refuse  it. "  "  Many  (he  says),  received 
it  willingly,  but  the  greater  part  were  averse  to  taking 
it. "  *  The  supply  even  of  paper  was  however  apparently 
soon  exhausted,  and  we  hear  of  the  inhabitants  being 
forced  to  accept   receipts  for  services  or  supplies  in  the 

1  See  especially  Wild's  Journal  (Nov.  5,  177.5),  Dcarborne's  (Nov.  6),  Tliayer's  (Nov.  .5), 
'  See  on  tliis  subject  tlio  paper  by  Mr.  Breckenridge  in  the  Cliicago  Journal  of  Politi- 
cal Economy   June,  1893,  pp.  406—31, 
M  Amer.  Arch.,  IV.  1470. 
*  Arnold  to  Deane,  Ibid.,  V.  549. 
16 


518  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

form  of  "  certificates  not  legible,  with  only  one  half  a  sig- 
nature, and  of  consequence  rejected  by  the  Quarter-Master 
General."'  The  situation  is  probably  accurately  enough 
described  by  the  Commissioners  to  Canada  in  their  state- 
ment May  1st,  that,  "  The  general  apprehension  that  we 
shall  be  driven  out  of  the  Province  as  soon  as  the  King's 
troops  can  arrive  concurs  with  the  frequent  breaches  of 
promises  the  inhabitants  had  experienced,  in  determining 
them  to  trust  our  people  no  further. "  -  A  week  later  they 
report  that  £14,000  is  owed  in  the  colony,  and  that  with 
the  payment  of  this  and  some  ready  money,  together  with 
a  change  in  the  ill-conduct  of  the  expedition  in  other  re- 
spects, "  it  may  be  possible  to  regain  the  affections  of  the 
people,  ....  in  which  case  the  currency  of  our  paper 
money  will,  we  think,  follow  as  a  certain  consequence. "  ^ 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  those  best 
qualified  to  judge,  the  absence  of  ready  money  was  but  a 
comparatively  minor  difficulty;  that  if  the  Canadians  were 
otherwise  well  treated  it  would  present  no  more  difficul- 
ties than  in  the  other  Provinces. 

To  what  ill  treatment  then  had  the  Canadians  otherwise 
been  subjected?  What  misfortunes  had  they  experienced 
from  the  American  occupation,  other  than  the  lack  of 
prompt  payment  for  supplies  voluntarily  furnished?  The 
evidence  for  the  answer  of  this  question  is  entirely  sufficient, 
and  undoubtedly  shows  that  at  least  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  expedition,  they  had  been  treated,  not  with  the  for- 
bearance and  tact  so  strongly  recommended  by  Washington, 
not  even  as  neutrals  from  whom  nothing  was  to  be  expected, 
but  rather,  in  spite  of  their  abundant  evidence  of  good 
will,  as  irreconcilable  enemies. 

One  of  the  earliest  explicit  statements  on  this  point  that 
I  find  is  contained  in  a  letter  from  Col.  Moses  Hazen  to  Gen, 

I  Hazen  to  Scluiylor,  April  1st,  1778.    Lossiug,  tSchuyler,  II.  467. 

JToCongress,  May  1st,  1776.    4  A  mer.  Arch.,  V.  1166.    It  is  to  be  noted  that  it  is  here 
clearly  shown  that  up  to  this  time  the  inhabitants  had  trusted  the  invaders. 
•May  8,  1776.    Ibkt.,  p.  1237. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  619 

Schuyler,  April  1,  1776.'  After  making  some  strong  state- 
ments about  the  changed  attitude  of  the  Canadians,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  give  reasons  therefor :  "  Their  clergy  have  been 
neglected  and  sometimes  ill-used;  ....  the  peasanty  in 
general  have  been  ill-used;  they  have  in  some  instances  been 
dragooned,  with  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  furnLsh  wood 
for  the  garrison  at  a  lower  rate  than  the  current  price;" 
half  of  the  imperfect  certificates  given  in  payment  being 
moreover  later  dishonored  by  the  Quarter-Master  General. 
Hazen  encloses  as  evidence  of  his  representations  a  letter 
from  one  Captain  Goforth  of  the  Continental  force,  com- 
manding at  Three  Rivers,  detailing  outrages  committed  by 
the  troops  on  their  march  to  Quebec-  "A  priest's  house 
(Goforth  writes),  has  been  entered  with  great  violence,  and 
his  watch  plundered  from  him.  At  another  house  they  ran 
in  debt  about  20sh.  and  because  the  man  wanted  to  be  paid, 
run  him  through  the  neck  with  a  bayonet.  Women  and 
children  have  been  terrified,  and  forced,  with  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  to  furnish  horses  for  private  soldiers  without 
any  prospect  of  pay. "  That  these  complaints  are  accepted 
as  just  by  Schuyler,  or  that  he  had  abundant  other  evidence, 
is  shown  by  his  statement  to  Washington  shortly  after, 
that  "  The  licentiousness  of  our  troops,  both  in  Canada  and 
in  this  quarter,  is  not  easily  to  be  described;  nor  have  all 
my  efforts  been  able  to  put  a  stop  to  those  scandalous 
excesses. " '  He  had  previously  expressed  to  Congress  his 
apprehension  "  that  the  imprudent  conduct  of  our  troops 
would  create  a  disgust  to  our  cause  in  Canada;  it  even 
hurts  it  in  this  colony. "  *  These  representations  are  thor- 
oughly supported  by  the  investigations  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  Congress,  whose  statements  as  to  the  non- 

J  4  Amer,  Arch.,  V.  869.    Reprinted  in  Lossing's  Schuyler,  II.  43-7. 

"  IbUI,  v.  871.  The  letter  ia  undated  but  cannot  be  later  than  March.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  from  the  reference  to  the  march  to  Quebec,  this  seems  to  show  a  high 
degree  of  lawlessness  and  violence  in  the  troops  early  in  the  expedition,  when  there  was 
little  or  no  excuse  through  the  pressure  of  want. 

»  4  Amer.  Arch.,  V.  1098.     (From  Fort  George,  April 27, 1776.) 

*  To  President,  April  12.    (Ibid.,  p.  868.)    The  colony  referred  to  is  New  York. 


520  BULLETIN  OF  TUB  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

fulfillment  of  pecuniary  obligations  to  the  inhabitants  have 
been  already  referred  to.  May  nth  tiiey  write  from  Montreal 
that  the  Canadians  "  have  been  provoked  by  the  violences 
of  our  military,  in  exacting  provisions  and  services  from 
them  without  pay,  —  a  conduct  towards  a  people  who  suf- 
fered us  to  enter  their  country  as  friends  that  the  most 
urgent  necessity  can  scarce  e  xcuse,  since  it  has  contributed 
much  to  the  changing  their  good  dispositions  toward  us 
into  enmity,  and  makes  them  wish  our  departure. " '  Congress 
did  not  need  this  report  'o  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the 
charge,  for  we  find  it  on  April  23  resolving,  "  That  the 
Commissioners  of  Congress  to  Canada  be  desired  to  pub- 
lish an  address  to  the  people  of  Canada,  signifying  that 
Congress  has  been  informed  of  injuries  offered  by  our  peo- 
ple to  some  of  them,  expressing  our  resentment  at  such 
misconduct."  Matters,  however,  evidently  did  not  improve; 
for  May  10,  1776,  Gen,  Sullivan  writes  to  Washington  that 
"  the  licentiousness  of  some  of  the  troops  that  are  gone  on 
has  been  such  that  few  of  the  inhabitants  have  escaped  abuse 
either  in  their  persons  or  property.  .  .  .  Court-martials 
are  vain  where  officers  connive  at  the  depredations  of  the 
men. "-  In  the  following  June  Washington  expresses  his 
conviction  that  "  many  of  our  misfortunes  [in  Canada]  are 
to  be  attributed  to  a  want  of  discipline  and  a  proper  re- 
gard to  the  conduct  of  the  soldiery. "  '  A  few  days  later 
(June  21,  1776),  an  investigation  was  ordered  by  Congress. 
The  report  of  the  investigating  committee  on  the  follow- 
ing July  30,  placed  as  the  first  of  the  causes  of  the  failure 
the  short  terms  of  enlistment,   which  had  made  the  men 

1<  Amer.  Arch.,  \.V2iil. 

'  Ibid.,  VI,  413.  SuUivaa  writes  from  Albany  on  liis  way  to  Canada,  and  evidently  is 
inspired  by  the  traces  of  depredations  he  has  come  across.  This  is  in  New  York  there- 
for; but  it  may  well  bo  imafrined  that  conduct  would  not  improve  in  the  enemy's  conn- 
try.  The  statement  of  Sullivan  probably  throws  lipht  on  an  entry  in  the  Diary  of 
Richard  Smith  {A  mcr.  Hist.  /?pr..  April,  1896,  pp.  510).  Under  date  March  8,  1776  it  la  here 
noted  that  "Accounts  transmitted  from  Canada  by  Col.  Hazen  of  the  damages  done  to 
him  by  our  soldiers  who  had  destroyed  or  damaged  his  house  at  St.  Johns  and  killed  hia 
cattle  &c.  were  referred  to  a  commitiee." 

» To  Sullivan.    Ibid,,  p.  927. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1700-76.  521 

"disorderly  and  disobedient  to  their  officers,"  and  had  pre- 
cipitated the  commanders  "  into  measures  which  their 
prudence  might  have  jiostponed,  could  they  have  relied  on 
a  longer  continuance  of  their  troops  in  service."' 

There  would  seem  therefore  abundant  ground  for  the 
conclusion  that  the  colonial  forces  had  conducted  them- 
selves in  such  a  manner  as  to  expose  to  serious  maltreat- 
ment even  the  most  friendly  portion  of  the  Canadian  people. 
The  conviction  will  be  strengthened  by  a  glance  at  some 
evidence  with  regard  to  the  general  character  and  conduct 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  troops;  evidence  which  shows 
clearly  that  the  invading  force  as  a  whole  was,  throughout 
the  latter  part  of  the  expedition  at  least,  afflicted  with  a 
degree  of  disorganization  and  disaffection  fitted  to  deprive 
it  of  all  claim  to  respect  on  the  part  of  the  Canadians,  and 
to  make  misconduct  inevitable.  Very  much  allowance  is 
of  course  to  be  made  for  the  unavoidable  defects  that 
attach  to  a  militia,  and  that  were  bound  to  be  magnified 
in  troops  enlisted  and  serving  under  the  conditions  of 
the  early  part  of  the  war.  The  fatal  use  of  the  short 
enlistment  plan  was  something  for  which  Congress  was 
responsible;  the  lack  of  harmony  and  union  as  between 
troops  of  different  colonies  was  certainly  to  be  looked  for.* 

1  Journal  of  Coiuirrxx,  v.  289.  I  Imvo  thonK^t  it  necessary  for  my  purpose  to  detail  soma 
of  tho  moro  strikiiiR  oviiionco  on  this  point.  But  thnt  the  conduct  in  question  has  not 
been  without  rocoRiiition  even  from  partial  writers,  is  shown  by  Bancroft's  state- 
ment that,  "  Tho  Canadian  peasantry  had  been  forced  to  furnish  wood  and  other  arti- 
cles at  less  than  the  market  price,  or  for  certificates,  and  felt  themselves  outraged  by 
the  arbitrariness  of  tlie  military  occupation."     CiV,  376.) 

'An  indication  of  tlie  existence  and  nature  of  this  difficulty  in  tho  matter  I  am  treat- 
ing  is  atforded  by  tho  following  Resolution  of  tho  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut, 
Oct.,  1775.  (f '0?.  liecnrtt.i  of  Conn.,  XV,  1.36.)  "  This  Assembly  being  informed  that  cer- 
tain questions  and  disputes  liad  arose  amongst  the  troops  lately  raised  by  this  colony 
....  and  now  employed  against  the  ministerial  forces  in  Canada,  which  disputes,  un- 
less prevented,  may  be  attended  with  unhappy  consequences.  Therefore  it  is  hereby  re 
solved  by  this  Assembly  that  aU  the  Troops  .  .  ,  .  lately  raised  by  this  Colony  .  .  . 
are  and  shall  be  subject  to  the  rules,  orders,  regulations  and  discipline  of  the  Congress  of 
the  Twelve  United  Colonies  during  the  time  of  their  inlistment."  See  also  as  to  Montgom- 
ery's diiHculties,  Lossing,  Snhuylcr,  I.  426-7.  Under  date  Dec.  18,  1775,  a  British  officer 
in  Quebec  writes  that  news  has  just  been  received  that  "  the  besiegers  were  greatly  dis- 


522  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

These  features  are  found  in  all  the  early  operations  of  the 
Continental  troops,  and  the  special  difficulties  and  disasters 
of  the  Canadian  expedition  were  sure  to  make  them  more 
manifest  and  injurious.  But  that  in  this  expedition  there 
was  also  displayed  other  and  more  serious  and  fund- 
amental defects  in  the  character  and  bearing  of  the  men  is 
hardly  to  be  denied.  The  impartial  observer  is  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  word  mercenary  would  not  on  the 
whole  be  an  unjust  appellation.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  word  occurs  in  the  exceedingly  strong  language 
used  by  Washington  himself  at  this  time  about  the  force 
under  his  command.  He  writes  to  Congress  in  the  latter 
part  of  1775  that  "  Such  a  dearth  of  public  spirit  and  such 
a  want  of  virtue  ....  I  never  saw  before ;  .  .  .  . 
such  a  mercenary  spirit  pervades  the  whole  [force]  that  I 
should  not  be  at  all  surprised  at  any  disaster  that  may  hap- 
pen."  '  And  if  this  could  be  said  of  the  troops  assembling 
for  defence  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  we  cannot  be  sur- 
prised to  discover  the  same  unsatisfactory  condition  in 
offensive  operations  of  such  magnitude  and  difficulty  as 
those  in  Canada. 

That  the  spirit  in  the  Canadian  expedition  was  unsatis- 
factory in  the  extreme  from  the  beginning  is  shown  clearly 
in  Montgomery's  statements.  October  31,  1775,  he  writes: 
"  The  New  England  troops  are  the  worst  stuff  imaginable 
for  soldiers.  They  are  homesick;  their  regiments  have 
melted  away,  and  yet  not  a  man  dead  of  any  distemper. 
There  is  such  an  equality  among  them,  that  the  officers 
have  no  authority,  and  there  are  very  few  among  them  in 
whose  spirit  I  have  confidence.     The  privates  are  all  gen- 

satisfied  with  their  Oonoral's  proceedings,  and  that  their  body  of  men  appears  back- 
wood  in  doiDK  the  duty  required  of  them."  C  "  Journal  of  principal  ocourronces  during 
the  seige  of  Quebec."  Edited  by  Shortt,  London,  1824.)  Col.  Trumbull  (as  quoted  below), 
in  deBcribi&g  the  remains  of  the  expedition  as  he  encountered  it  on  the  retreat,  saya 
that  there  was  "  neither  order,  subordination,  or  harmony;  the  otBcers  as  well  as  mea 
of  one  colony,  insulting  and  quarrelling  with  those  of  another."  (lieminiscences, 
p.  a02.) 
>  Sparks,  Washington,  III,  178. 


COFFIN — THE  PBOVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  523 

erals,  but  not  soldiers;  and  so  jealous  that  it  Is  impossible, 
though  a  man  risk  his  person,  to  escape  the  imputation  of 
jealousy. " '  The  most  strenuous  efforts  were  found  neces- 
sary to  induce  the  troojjs  to  enter  at  all  upon  the  enter- 
prise; it  seems  most  probable  that,  but  for  the  general 
belief  in  the  weakness  of  the  enemy  and  the  warm  support 
of  the  French-Canadians,  it  would  have  been  found  im- 
possible. The  force  steadily  diminished;  on  the  20th  of 
November,  Schuyler  writes  to  Congress  that  "  The  most 
scandalous  inattention  to  the  public  stores  prevails  in  every 

part  of  the   army The   only   attention   that 

engrosses  the  minds  of  the  soldiery  is  how  to  get  home  the 
soonest  possible. "  ^  With  this  temper  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  force  would  diminish  even  more  rapidly  under  dis- 
aster. On  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  failure  of  Mont- 
gomery's attack  on  Quebec,  Gen.  Wooster  writes  to  Schuyler 
from  Montreal:  "Many  of  the  troops  insist  upon  going 
.home,  the  times  of  enlistment  being  out.  Some  indeed 
have  run  away  without  a  pass  or  Dismissal,  expressly 
against  orders.  I  have  just  been  informed  that  a  Capt. 
Pratt  of  the  2nd  Battalion  of  Yorkers  has  led  off  his  Com- 
pany for  St.  Johns. " '' 

There  is  some  direct  testimony  as  to  the  behaviour  of  the 
troops  at  Quebec  in  the  journals  of  survivors.  In  that  of 
Henry  we  have  under  date  December  12  an  account  of  the 
sacking  by  the  troops  of  the  house  of  a  prominent  Canadian 
near  the  town,  and  the  evil  results  on  the  soldiery. 
"Though  our  Company  was  composed  of  freeholders,  or 
the  sons  of  such,  bred  at  home  under  the  strictures  of  re- 

JTo  Schuyler,  from  St.  Johns.  See  Losi^inK.  Schuyler,  I.  427.  The  justice  of  these  and 
eimilar  complaints,  Lossing  says,  "impartial  history,  enlightened  by  fact-s,  fully  con- 
cedes." 

*  Lossing's  Schuyler,  I.  486.  It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  a  more  favourable  impression  is 
given  by  other  statements  in  this  letter,  which  however  in  their  isolation  do  not  seem  on 
the  whole  to  effect  my  general  conclusion.  In  the  Diarii  of  Richard  Smith  (Amer. 
HUt  Rev.,  Jan.,  1896,  p.  296)  we  have  the  following  entry  of  Dec.  18,  1775:  "Mont- 
gomery's soldiers  very  disobedient  and  many  of  them  come  Home  without  Leave." 

'Jan.  5,  1776.    (New  Hampshire  Prov.  Papers,  VII.  720.) 


524  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

ligion  and  morality,  yet  when  the  reins  of  decorum  were 
loosed,  and  the  honourable  feeling  weakened,  it  became 
impossible  to  administer  restraint.  The  person  of  a  tory, 
or  his  property,  became  fair  game,  and  this  at  the  denun- 
ciation of  a  base  domestic  villain. " '  This  writer  indeed 
takes  pains  to  assert  expressly  that  only  Tories  were  plun- 
dered, and  that  the  peasantry  were  especially  protected 
and  respected;  but  the  mass  of  adverse  evidence  forbids  us 
to  consider  the  statement  of  weight  further  than  with  re- 
gard to  his  own  comjiany.  In  Caleb  Haskell's  Journal-  we 
have  a  glimpse  of  the  attitude  of  the  time-expired  troops. 
Under  date  Jan.  30-1,  he  tells  how  the  writer's  Company, 
"looking  upon  ourselves  as  free  men,"  in  that  their  time 
of  enlistment  had  expired,  were  tried  and  punished  by 
Court-Martial  for  disobedience  to  orders,  and  how,  "  find- 
ing that  arbitrary  rule  prevailed,"  they  had  finally  con- 
cluded to  remain  and  serve  (which  they  did  until  the  be- 
ginning of  May,  decamping  then  at  a  critical  moment). 
Some  interesting  particulars  are  further  found  in  these 
journals  of  the  conduct  of  those  who  were  taken  p'  ,oners 
on  the  occasion  of  the  assault.  Ebenezer  Wild  tells  us  un- 
der date  January  3-4,  (i.  e.,  on  the  third  and  fourth  days  of 
captivity),  that  Carleton  having  sent  for  a  list  of  the  names 
of  the  prisoners,  especially  of  those  who  were  old  country- 
men, "they,  [i.  e.,  presumably,  the  old  countrymen ;  in  all 
probability  meaning  thereby  those  born  in  the  British 
Islands],  chiefly  enlisted  in  the  King's  service. "  ^  More  par- 
ticular information  is  given  by  Capt.  Simeon  Thayer*  who 
says  that  the  old  countrymen  were  threatened  by  Carleton 
with  being  sent  to  England  and  tried  as  traitors.  In  the  lists 
given  by  Thayer  with  regard  to  the  American  losses  in  the  as- 
sault on  Quebec,  we  find  the  following  figures  for  all  ranks: — 
killed,  35;  wounded,  33;  prisoners,  372;  enlisted,  94. 

1  Account  of  the  Campaign  au'iintt  Quchec  (A.lbauy,  1877),  p.  9S. 

«  Newbury  wrt,  1H81.    (Pamphlot.) 

'  Procecdihj/n  Mass.  Hixl.  Societ.i/,  April,  1886. 

♦  Collections  R.  T,  Hist.  Society,  VI  (Providence,  1867),    App.  to  Journal. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-7G.        525 

We  see  therefore  that  fully  25  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners 
at  Quebec  took  service  with  their  late  enemies,  ap- 
parently without  much  delay.  If  these  comprised  only 
"old  countrymen,"  it  is  an  interesting  fact  with  regard  to 
the  composition  of  the  troops.  But  we  have  little  ground 
for  confidence  as  to  the  firmness  even  of  the  acknowledged 
colonists.  Col.  J.  Trumbull,  (Acting  Adjutant  General  with 
Gage),  writes  to  his  father.  Governor  Trumbull  of  Con- 
necticut, on  July  12.  1776,'  of  encountering  the  remnants 
of  the  Canadian  expedition  "ruined  by  sickness,  fatigue, 
and  desertion,  and  void  of  every  idea  of  discipline  or  sub- 
ordination." Of  the  10,000  men  of  the  previous  spring, 
6,000  are  left;  of  the  other  4,000,  "the  enemy  has  cost  us 
perhaps  one,  sickness  another  thousand,  and  the  others 
God  alone  knows  in  what  manner  they  are  disposed  of. 
Among  the  few  we  have  remaining,  there  is  neither  order, 
subordination,  or  harmony;  the  officers  as  well  as  men  of 
one  colony,  insulting  and  quarreling  with  thjse  of  another." 
About  the  same  time  Lt.  Ebenezerj^Elmer  says  of  the  same 
troops,  "The  whole  of  their  conduct  at  Canada  since  the 
death  of  the  gallant  Montgomery  seems  nothing  but  a 
scene  of  confusion,  cowardice,  negligence  and  bad  conduct. "  ^ 
In  an  account  of  the  naval  operations  on  Lake  George  in 
October,  1776,  Trumbull  further  describes  the  dangerous  in- 
fluence exerted  by  Carleton  over  the  prisoners  then  taken  by 
him.  These  had  all  been  allowed  to  return  home  on  condition 
of  not  bearing  arms  again  till  they  were  exchanged; 
when  encountered  by  Trumbull  on  the  homeward  march 
"all  (he  says)  were  warm  in  their  acknowledgment  of 
the  kindness  with  which  they  had  been  treated  and  which 
appeared  to  me  to  have  made  a  very  dangerous  impression. " 
He  therefore  "placed  the  boats  containing  the  prisoners 
under  the  guns  of  a  battery  and  gave  orders  that  no  one 


1  Trumbull,  Jiemint^'i'^ncnt,  p.  ;)02.     (Appendix.). 

^ ProceeiHnya  New  Jirxey  Hint.  Society,  II,  132.  Thi;<  is  written  at  the  Mohawk  river, 
In  the  relief  exftodition  of  Gen,  Sullivan.  It  ia  a  si,/niflcaut  fiict  that  this  very  detaUed 
journal  is  very  larf{ely  tulion  up  with  Court-mpviial  proceedinKH. 


520  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   WISC0N8IN. 

should  be  perraittod  to  land,  and  no  Intercourso  take  place 
with  the  troops  on  shore  until  orders  should  be  received 
from  Gen.  Gage.  " '  When  the  situation  had  been  presented 
to  Gage  the  latter  ordered  that  the  troops  should  return 
home  iraracjdiately  witViout  being  allowed  to  land.  This 
seems  to  show  not  only  the  ea.se  with  which  the  prison- 
ers had  been  shaken  in  their  patriotism,  h)ut  aLso  a  very 
great  lack  of  confidence  in  the  main  force.  A  glimp.se  of 
the  genesis  of  these  forces  in  the  spring  of  1776  is  to  be 
obtained  from  a  letter  of  one  Capt.  James  Osgood  to  the 
Chairman  of  t?ie  New  Ilamp.shire  Committee  of  Safety.  He 
informs  him  tliat  he  has  enlisted  for  Canada  about  HO  good 
men;  adding  "T  have  had  a  groat  number  Deserted  after 
paying  them  the  Bounty  and  part  of  advance  i)ay  to  sup- 
port their  families.  "- 

I  shall  add  but  little  on  this  general  point.  An  account 
by  an  officer  of  the  American  force  of  the  final  withdrawal 
from  Quebec  seems  to  show  that  this  closing  act 
was  by  no  means  creditable;  the  writer  describes  it  as  a 
"disgraceful  retreat,"  marked  by  the  "utmost  jjrecipita- 
tion; '  he  himself  "meeting  the  roads  full  of  people,  shame- 
fully flying  from  an  enemy  that  a})peared  Vjy  no  means  su- 
perior to  our  strength."'  The  coramir,."ioners  to  Canada 
write  to  Congress  May  17,  1776:  "  Wei  want  words  to  de- 
scribe the  confusion  which  prevails  through  every  de- 
partment relating  to  the  army,  '  and  point  out  "ihe  unfeel- 
ing flight  and  return  at  this  juncture  of  all  the  soldiers 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  officers  who  were  entitled  to  be 
discharged."  *  On  May  27,  after  dwelling  on  the  distressed 
condition  of  the  army,  they  tell  of  the  plundering  of  the 
baggage  '  by  those  whose  times  were  out,  and  have  since 
left  Canada.  We  are  informed  by  Capt.  Allen  that  the  men 
who,  from  pretended  indinpoKition,  had  been  exempted  from  do- 

I  I/einlninrrnrPH,  p.  'M, 

*JVeu'  J/nnijmMrf  NIhU'  Pajii n  VIII,  164. 

"^iAnier.  Arcl,.,yi.\m. 


COFFIN — THE   I'UOVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    17G0-7C.  527 

inq  duly,  were  tfia  foremost  in  the  fif/fif,  and  carried  off  Huch 
burdens  on  Ihcir  harks  as  Jicarfy  and  stoat,  men  would  labour 
under. "  ' 

In  view  of  these  facts  we  must  at  least  concur  in  the 
words  of  Washinjjton,  already  fjuoted,  I  am  convinced 
many  of  our  misfortunes  are  to  be  attributed  to  a  want  of 
discipline  and  a  proper  roj^ard  to  the  conduct  of  the  sol- 
diery. "  Nor  can  we  demur  from  the  belief  expressed  by 
the  President  of  Congress  that  "there  ?ias  been  very  gross 
misconduct  in  the  management  of  our  affairs  in  Canada, "-' 
I  am  not  interested  hen;  to  [)oint  out  that  tliis  misconduct  on 
the  part  of  the  troops  was  supj)Iemented  V^y  gross  mismanage- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  leaders,  from  Congress  down;  as 
stated  before  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  write  a  history  of  the 
expedition,  or  seek  the  full  explanation  of  its  failure.  That 
purpose  is  rather  to  show  that  the  revolutionary  cause,  as 
expressed  in  this  movement,  could  in  no  sense  attract  the 
French-Canadians;  that  on  the  contrary,  this  contact  with 
that  cause  must  in  every  respect  have  acted  strongly  to 
rejjress  the  zeal  of  the  ardent  among  them,  to  bring  doubt 
to  the  most  sanguine,  to  anger  and  antagonize  not  only  the 
Indifferent  but  even  the  amicably  inclined.  Herein  is  the 
explanation  of  the  failure  to  secure  for  the  movement 
that  effective  aid  from  the  strong  predilections  of  the 
Canadian  people  which  had  been  confidently  and  justly  ex- 
pected. It  is  an  explanation  which  is  consistent  with  the 
existence  of  such  a  predilection  in  a  high  degree;  in  it  I 
am  confident,  is  comprised  in  the  main  the  explanation 
of  the  non-inclusion  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  (and  of  con- 
sequence all  Canada),  in  the  regions  destined  to  form  the 
United  States.  It  is,  I  think,  not  to  be  doubted  that  had 
the  favoroible  attitude  of  the  Canadians  been  carefully  cul- 
tivated, had   the  personnel  of   the   invading  force  been  of 


I  Intnuluctory  M«(rm)ir  to  Carroll' h  ./ourwi I,  p,  :«,  (Marylaud  Hint.  8«>c.,  1876.  >    The 
itnlicH  wnni  to  te  the  cornmlnHioriHrH'. 
»To  WanbinKton,  Juue  21,  177(5.     HAmtr.  Arch.,  VI,  WtQ.) 


528  nULLETlN  OF  TIIK   UNIVERSITY   OP    WISCONSIN. 

higher  grade,  had  the  means  been  furnished,  both  to  en- 
able that  army  to  avoid  all  arbitrary  conduct,  and  to  avail 
itself  more  thoroughly  of  the  French  Canadian  assistance, 
the  campaign  would  nave  ended  in  an  altogether  different 
manner.  Even  if  the  disaster  at  Quebec  had  still  been  ex- 
perienced, it  would  not  have  had  the  demoralizing  effect  it 
did  have;  the  invaders  would  have  been  still  strongly  sus- 
tained by  a  friendly  peoj^le  until  adequate  reinforcements 
had  arrived.  It  is  useless  to  contend  that  the  French  Ca- 
nadians were  a  timid  race,  and  of  little  help  to  whatever 
cause  they  might  embrace;  students  of  the  previous  war 
find  them  in  it,  as  throughout  their  whole  history,  display- 
ing under  the  most  discouraging  circumstances,  in  very 
high  degree  the  qualities  of  regular  troops.'  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  in  fifteen  years  they  could  have  so  degener- 
ated. Tbey  embraced  about  15,000  able-bodied  men,  prac- 
tically all  trained  to  arms;  here  was  certainly  a  factor  that, 
well  managed,  might  indeed  prove  the  decisive  one.  At 
the  very  least  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  with  this 
aid  organized  and  kept  effective,  the  American  force  could 
have  maintained  itself  in  the  country  until  the  French  al- 
liance had  formed  a  basis  for  more  decisive  operations. 
That  alliance  alone,  when  it  did  come,  was  sufficient  to  stir 
again  to  the  depths  the  whole  Canadian  people,  including 
even  the  classes  which  before  had  immovably  supported 
the  British  cause;  it  is  surely  not  too  much  to  say  that  if 
the  total  withdrawal  of  the  Continental  forces  had  not  en- 
abled the  British  to  get  a  firm  control  of  the  country,  and 
to  take  all  possible  measures  of  precaution  against  new  at- 
tacks or  uprisings,  the  province  would  have  presented  a 
most  favorable  field  of  effort;  a  field  the  French  would 
have  been  only  too  eager  to  occupy. 

'  See  above,  p.  'liSA,  for  Carleton's  testimony  (that  of  an  antagonint;,  as  to  tboir  conduct. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    ITGO-TO.  529 


CONCLUSION. 

The  latter  part  of  the  foregoing  study  has  had  for  its 
central  point  the  relations  of  the  Province  of  Quebec 
with  the  American  Revolution,  as  gathered  about  the 
Quebec  Act  of  1774  and  the  revolutionary  invasion  of 
the  Province  in  1775-0.  I  have  attempted  to  examine  the 
Quebec  Act  in  the  light  of  its  origins  and  environment,  and 
thus  to  show,  at  this  great  crisis  for  America  and  for  Eng- 
lish colonial  emjiire,  the  nature  and  degree  of  the  connec- 
tions, conscious  and  unconscious,  existing  in  the  British  ad- 
ministrative mind  between  the  new  fortunes  of  Canada  and 
the  West  and  the  conditions  and  i)roblems  of  the  older  col- 
onies. And  from  the  side  of  the  Revolution  especially  I 
have  followed  up  that  crisis  until  the  parting  of  the  ways 
has  (as  we  see  it  now),  fully  declared  itself;  until  the  Brit- 
ish North  America  of  the  future  has  been  clearly  differen- 
tiated from  the  British  North  America  of  the  past.  How 
unnecessary  and  indeed  surprising  that  differentiation  was, 
and  how  it  came  about,  the  last  chapter  has  been  intended 
to  show. 

In  addition  to  these  two  important  aspects  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary connections  of  the  Quebec  Act,  reference  has 
also  been  briefly  made  to  the  effect  of  the  Act  in  the 
hastening  or  aggravating  of  the  difficulties  with  the  other  col- 
onies. This  however  I  have  not  been  able  to  fully  enquire 
into.  Closer  investigation  will,  I  feel  sure,  show  that  the 
disastrous  influence  of  the  measure  upon  the  colonial  temper 
was  a.3  great  as  that  of  the  more  direct  attacks  upon 
colonial  institutions.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  most  unfor- 
tunate of  enactments  had  been  specially  under  the  patron- 
age of  some  malign  genius;  for  the  unfortunate  nature  of 
its  provisions  is  equalled  by  the  unhappy  moment  of 
its  appearance.  We  cannot  wonder  at  its  evil  influence  on 
the  colonial  troubles,  nor  at  the  misconceptions  of  the  irri- 


530  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

tated  colonists.  It  was  most  natural  to  suppose  that  it 
had  a  vital  connection  with  the  coercive  measures  in  whose 
company  it  appeared;  it  needed  but  a  slight  degree  of  sus- 
picion to  invest  it  with  the  most  sinister  aspect.  Rather 
than  being  surprised  at  the  ideas  of  the  Revolutionary- 
fathers  in  regard  to  it,  I  have  been  surprised  instead  at 
finding  that  their  suspicions  are  so  utterly  without  founda- 
tion. The  reasonableness  of  these  suspicions  and  the 
impress  that  they  have  left  on  later  historical  writing, 
though  not  the  only  reasons  for  the  care  with  which  I  have 
traced  the  origins  of  the  Act,  seem  to  me  alone  sufficient 
to  justify  that  care.  I  have  attempted  to  show  that  it 
had  a  natural  and  altogether  explainable  genesis  apart 
altogether  from  the  special  difficulties  in  the  other  colonies; 
that  practically  no  evidence  seems  to  exist  that  any  one  of 
its  objectionable  provisions  was,  in  origin  or  development, 
appreciably  affected  by  these  difficulties.  The  matter  has 
been  treated  not  merely  negatively;  it  has  been  shown 
also  that  these  provisions  had  been  fully  determined  upon 
years  before  the  events  occurred  to  which  their  origin  has 
been  supposed  to  be  due,  and  upon  grounds,  entirely  apart 
from  them,  which  might  well  seem  amply  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify such  action. 

I  may  possibly  be  accused  of  viewing  this  matter  with 
too  particular  an  eye  for  the  exact  date ;  it  may  be  said  that 
colonial  difficulties  had  existed  and  been  steadily  growing 
from  1764  down.  It  should  perhaps  be  sufficient  to  reply 
that  these  difficulties  previous  to  the  close  of  1773 
had  not  called  forth  or  seemed  likely  to  call  forth,  any 
seriously  repressive  measures  on  the  part  of  the  home  gov- 
ernment; that  still  less  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  they  could 
possibly  have  evoked  such  deeply  laid  and  carefully  con- 
cealed plans  of  hostile  far-reaching  action  as  the  Canadian 
and  Western  measures  have  been  ascribed  to.  It  is  indeed 
I  think  undeniable  that  the  belief  in  such  plans,  at  that 
day  or  since,  has  been  held  or  at  least  advanced  only  in 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,  1760-76.        531 

connection  with  the  idea  that  the  provisions  of  the  Quebec 
Bill  were  subsequent  in  origin  to  the  more  serious  and 
aggravated  phase  of  colonial  difficulties  that  may  be  said 
to  date  from  the  latter  part  of  1773.'  But  a  more  conclusive 
line  of  answer  to  this  objection  will  probably  be  furnished 
in  a  reference  to  the  lack  of  continuity  in  the  Imperial 
executive  as  between  1764  and  1774,  in  cornection  with  a 
real  continuity  in  Canadian  policy,  so  far  as  can  be  dis- 
cerned, from  the  very  beginning  of  serious  attention  to 
Canadian  matters.  I  have  shown  above  that  all  the  impor- 
tant provisions  of  the  Act,  except  that  in  regard  to  ar  Assem- 
bly, had  been  fully  discussed  and  to  all  ajjpearances  practi- 
cally decided  upon,  not  only  before  the  formal  establishment 
of  the  Tory  Ministry  of  1770,  but  also  before  the  termination 
of  the  Chatham  influence  in  1768.  That  is,  if  the  Quebec  Act 
had  been  passed  in  1768  or  even  in  1767,  it  would,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge,  have  been  mainly  identical  with  the  measure  of 
1774.  It  was  in  July  1766  that  the  Chatham  ministry  was 
formed,  and  Shelbourne  placed  in  charge  of  the  Colonial 
Office;  yet  in  September,  1766,  we  find  Carle  ton  the  new 
Quebec  governor,  fresh  from  conference  with  the  home 
executive,  entering  upon  a  strong  pro-French  administra- 
tion in  the  Province,  and  evidently  fully  confident  from  the 
first  of  the  support  of  the  home  government  along  lines  of 
action  which  ended  logically  in  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774.  A 
reference  to  the  pages  in  which  I  have  described  above  the 
origins  of  the  Act  will  show  the  Chatham  administration 
to  all  appearance  fully  committed  to  three  of  the  four  im- 
portant provisions  which  make  up  its  substance.^  The  ex- 
tension of  the  bouuds  of  the  province  was,  I  have  con- 
tended, simply  the  following  out  of  the  long- established 

1  As  botiriuK  on  this  as  well  as  on  the  estimation  as  to  tlio  otTect  of  the  Act,  it  may  be 
worth  while  to  note  a  curious  British  opinion  of  a  few  years  later,  lu  tlie  debate  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  the  Quebec  Government  Bill  of  1791,  Lord  Abingdon  referred  to  the 
Quebec  Act  as  one  of  tlio  most  unfortunate  in  the  statute  boolf,  in  that  it  "laid  the 
foundation-stone  of  division  between  the  North  American  colonies  and  this  country." 
(Pari.  Hist.  XXIX,  p.  659.) 

"  See  pp.  411-31 ;  i32-36 ;  450-36. 


532  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

colonial-commercial  policy;  the  action  in  regard  to  the 
Church  of  Rome  was  merely  the  attempt  to  fulfill  (with  a 
certain  degree  of  political  liberality),  the  engagements  of 
the  treaty  of  1703,  and  was  not  in  excess  of  _the  previous 
steady  attitude  of  the  government  toward  that  Church;  the 
advisability  of  reversion  to  French  law  at  least  in  part  had 
been  officially  recommended  by  the  crown  lawyers  and  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  as  early  as  the  spring  of  176G,  and  its  likeli- 
hood had  been  officially  intimated  by  Shelbourne  to  Carleton 
in  June  17G7;  in  regard  to  an  Assembly  we  find  even  Fox  ad- 
mitting in  1774  that  he  would  not  assert  that  it  was  expedient 
that  one  should  be  then  granted.  It  is  thus  clear  that  the 
party  (so  far  as  we  can  hold  by  party  lines  in  this 
chaotic  period),  w^hich  in  the  main  stood  for  the  more 
liberal  and  advanced  colonial  policy,  was  practically 
committed  to  the  same  Canadian  policy  as  their  oppo- 
nents. But  neither  the  most  distrustful  colonist  of  the 
revolutionary  period  nor  the  most  pronounced  Anglophobist 
of  our  later  historical  literature,  would  be  likely  to  ascribe 
to  Fox  or  Burke  or  Shelbourne  that  line  of  far-reaching  and 
insidious  hostility  to  colonial  freedom  and  growth  which 
has  been  ascribed  to  the  authors  of  the  Quebec  Bill.  The 
fact  that  party  lines  were  more  closely  drawn  when  the  bill 
actually  came  before  Parliament  must  be  ascribed  mainly 
to  the  irresponsible  position  of  an  opposition, —  an  opposi- 
tion too  which  was  acting  more  as  individuals  than  as  a  unit; ' 
especially  as  the  debates  show  that  that  opposition,  instead 
of  fighting  specific  provisions  or  pointing  out  better  ones, 
confined  its  efforts  mainly  to  generalities,  or  to  such  favor- 
able points  of  popular  agitation  as  Popish  establishment 
and  the  absence  of  trial  by  jury.  And  in  these  debates  the 
position  that  the  French  Canadians  alone  were  to  be  con- 
sidered and  the  neglect  or  disregard  of  the  English  ele- 
ment and  prospects,  was  almost  as  marked  on  the  opi:>osition 
as  on  the  governmental  side.      The  whole  consideration  of 

1  See  Fitzmaurice,  Shelbourne,  II.,  310. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEIIEC,    17(10-70.  533 

this  phase  of  the  matter  must  therefore  I  think  support  my 
conclusion  as  to  the  laclc  of  connection  between  the  Canadian 
measures  and  tlao  strained  relations  with  the  older  colonies. 
But  it  is  not  only  in  this  light  that  my  study  centres 
about  the  Quebec  Act.     That  measure  has  two  aspects  with 
regard  to   which   we  must  consider  it : —  (1)  the  temporary 
and  long- past  one,  now  of  purely  historical  interest,  of  its 
various    connections    with    the    American    Revolutionary 
crisis;  and  (2)  the  permanent  living  one,  of  strong  interest 
to  every  student  of  institutions,  and  of  vital   interest  to 
every  modern  Canadian,  of  its  effects  on  the  after  history 
of  British   North   America, —  of  its  place   in  the   develop- 
ment of   that  great  commonwealth   which    the  Dominion 
of  Canada  seems  destined  to  become.     If  it  does  become 
such,  it  will  only  be  after  surmounting,  mayhap  at  great 
cost,  those  most   serious    obstacles    which,  i)laced  in  its 
path  by  that  Imperial  policy  of  which  the  Quebec  Act  of 
1774  was  the  controlling  basis,  have  grown  steadily  with 
its  growth.     They  are  the  obstacles  presented  to  Anglo- 
Saxon  domination  and  to  political  unity  in  modern  Canada 
through  the  continued  and  magnified  existence  there  of  an 
alien  and  hostile  nationality,  rooted  in  and  bound  up  with 
an  alien  and  hostile  ecclesiastical  domination.' 

This  opinion  is  ray  apology  for  the  care  with  which  I 
have  dwelt  upon  the  more  purely  institutional  aspects  of 
the  period.  I  have  tried  to  present  a  full  statement  of  the 
social  and  political  conditions  of  the  province  during  the 
early  years  of  the  British  occupation,  in  the  belief  that  it 
is  only  by  their  study  that  we  can  claim  to  pass  judgment 
upon  their  treatment.  The  misfortune  for  the  country  of 
the  non-assimilation  of  French  and  English  through  these 
130  years  of  common  political  existence  in  British  North 
America  has  of  course  been  frequently  dwelt  upon;  but  it 
has  usually  been  in  a  tone  of  resignation  to  those  mysteri- 
ous dispensations  of  Providence  which  made  the  Quebec 

1  See  Goldwin  Smith,  Canada  and  the  Canadian  Question,    Chapter  2. 
17 


634  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVEBSITV  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Act  an  unavoidable  necessity,  and  would  have  made  any 
other  course  then,  or  any  counter  course  since,  disastrous 
and  impossible.  What  else  could  have  been  done,  we  are 
asked, —  usually  with  extravagant  laudation  of  the  human- 
ity and  generosity  of  the  British  government  in  thus  pur- 
suing the  only  path  open  to  it.  It  has  been  one  of  my  ob- 
jects to  try  and  show  that  something  else,  something  very 
different,  could  have  been  done;  that  the  policy  that  was 
adopted  with  such  far-reaching  and  disastrous  consequences, 
was  precisely  also  the  one  that  was  the  most  danger- 
ous with  regard  to  the  conditions  of  the  moment.  It  is  no 
part  of  the  historian's  (and  certainly  not  of  the  special 
investigator's)  task  to  enter  upon  constructive  work,  to 
replace  everything  that  he  has  pulled  down;  and  therefore 
I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  go  into  particulars  with 
regard  to  the  possible  legislation  of  1774.  But  I  do 
not  wish  to  evade  the  problem;  it  should  be  manifest 
from  the  above  examination  that  the  alternative  course 
was  simply  to  set  the  new  English  Province  firmly  and 
definitively  upon  an  English  instead  of  a  French  path  of 
development.  As  shown  above,  the  way  was  clearly 
pointed  out  by  other  advisers  as  well  qualified  to  speak  as 
those  whose  advice  was  taken  in  1774.  I  know  that  in  this 
our  age  of  highly  defined  and  all-pervading  nationality, 
this  apparently  light  hearted  and  reckless  treading  upon 
the  holy  ground  of  national  development  may  bring  down 
upon  me  the  severest  censures.  But  my  critics  will  remem- 
ber that  we  are  dealing  with  another  age,  one  in  which 
nationality  was  not  the  breath  of  the  political  nostril ;  one 
in  which  new  and  alien  acquisitions  were  absorbed  and 
assimilated  as  an  every  day  process.'    And  I  hope  I  shall 


1  The  contemporary  history  of  the  French  colony  of  Louisiana  is  a  case  in  point,  and 
will  I  think  support  my  arRunient  in  every  respect.  Ceded  to  Spain  in  1762,  the  new 
rule  beRan  in  176C  with  infinitely  worse  prospects  than  that  of  tlie  English  in  Canada ;  for 
the  Spanisli  were  driven  away  by  a  revolt  of  tlie  colonists  in  1768,  and  after  re-establiah- 
inj?  themselves  by  overwhelming  force  in  the  followiii«  year,  began  their  regime  anew 
by  taking  summary  vengeance  upon  the  colonial  li'ndors.    It  had  moreover  been  under- 


OOt'FIN — THE   PROVINCE  OK  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  535 

not  be  further  reproached  with  a  slavish  respect  for  legal 
enactment,  in  attaching  the  importance  I  do  to  the  meas- 
ures, actual  and  possible  of  1774.  An  enactment  which  de- 
termines the  ecclesiastical  conditions  and  the  whole  civil 
code  of  a  people  is  surely  not  to  be  spoken  of  lightly;  but 
I  regard  it  only  as  the  first  step  in  a  progress  which  under 
its  pressure  became  the  inevitable  one;  as  the  opening  of 
an  easy  and  secure  path  and  the  providing  of  encouraging 
and  helpful  guides  in  a  journey  for  which  no  other  route 
or  guide  was  available. 

It  may  seem  that  it  is  to  place  too  much  emphasis  on  the 
effect  of  the  Quebec  Act  even  to  represent  it  as  the  first 
step  in  a  development  which  it  made  inevitable.  The  mat- 
ter is  one  which  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  stoji  and  discuss 
fully  here;  but  some  considerations  must  be  briefly  refer- 
red to.  The  main  one  has  regard  to  the  probably  different 
history  of  early  English  colonization  in  the  Province  if  the 
British  government  in  1774  had  not  so  avowedly  and  definite- 
ly handed  it  over  to  a  French  future.     In  the  discussions  in 

stood  at  the  tinio  of  cossion  that  in  doforonco  to  tho  express  wish  of  Louis  XV.,  tlio  colony 
would  bu  allowed  to  rutaiu  its  old  laws  and  usaRes ;  but  aftor  the  insurrection  tho  Span- 
ish Kovernment  procooded  to  thorouRhly  assimilate  it  in  law  and  govornmontal  forms  to 
the  other  Spanish  colonies  in  America.  The  degree  of  success  attained  in  tho  face  of 
circumstances  so  much  more  discouragiuK  than  those  which  existed  in  Canada,  is  shown 
in  the  statement  by  Gayarn',  (Liniiniaiin  niiilrr  SikdiisIi  Domination,  p.  310),  that 
when  in  1791  the  fourth  Spanish  Rovernoi  ended  his  administration,  "  He  left  Louisiana 
entirely  reconciled  to  the  Spanish  dominativou,  which  had  been  gradually  endeared  to 
the  inhabitants  by  the  onliKhtenod  and  wise  deportment  of  almost  every  oflicer  who  h:id 
ruled  over  them."  Yet  the  colony  had  remained  thoroughly  French  in  stock;  for  in 
1800  a  distinguished  Louisianian  oflicial  states  in  a  memoir  intended  for  Napoleon  I, 
that  "/Umost  all  the  Louiwianians  are  boru  French  or  are  of  French  origin."  Napoleon 
in  that  year  re-actiuired  the  colony  for  Fr.-ince ;  and  when  in  180.3  the  United  States  wore 
negotiating  for  its  purchase,  he  was  informed  by  M  .  Barb6  Marhois  (later  the  author  of 
a  Histoi-!/  of  LoiiisiaiKi),  th&t  "These  colonists  have  lost  the  recollection  of  France." 
When  in  the  same  year  the  Frencli  officials  took  possession  of  tho  province  tlioy  were 
received  with  .suspicion  rather  than  enthusiasm.  M.  Marbois  reports :  "  Every  one  will  be 
astonished  to  loam  that  a  people  of  French  descent  have  received  without  emotion  and 

without  any  apparent  interest  a  French  magistrate Nothing  has  boon  able 

to  diminish  tho  alarm  which  his  mission  causes.  His  proclamations  have  been  heard 
with  sadness,  and  by  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  with  the  same  indifference  as 
the  beat  of  the  drum  is  listened  to  wlien  it  announces  the  escape  of  a  slave  or  a  sale  at 
auction."  lOaynrre,  p.  582.)  There  was  here  of  course  an  additional  element  in  tho 
apprehensions  as  to  the  French  attitude  with  regard  to  slavery  ;  but  in  view  of  the  evi- 


536  BULLF.riN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  AVISCONSIN, 

Parliament  and  out  with  regard  to  that  measure,  both  before 
and  alter  its  enactment,  we  find  that  its  advocates  insist  with 
strong  sell-righteousness  that  in  Canada  it  is  the  French 
Canadian  only  who  is  to  be  considered ;  that  the  small  English 
section  there  has  scarcely  a  right  to  be  heard;  that  Canada 
(as  Carleton  had  urged),  was  French  and  destined  to  remain 
French;  that  it  was  probably  for  the  interest  of  Great 
Britain  to  discountenance  any  large  English  admixture. 
This  view  I  have  shown  above  was  no  doubt  largely  due 
to  the  incorrect  ideas  which  Murray  and  Carleton  had  fos- 
tered with  regard  to  the  origin  and  character  of  the  Eng- 
lish already  in  the  Province.  "Whatever  its  full  explana- 
tion the  tone  is  unmistakable.  It  may  be  considered  a 
part  of  the  striking  inadequacy  of  the  prevailing  British 
mind  at  that  time  to  the  Imperial  position  that  had  so 
wonderfully  come  to  the  nation;  an  inadequacy  which  was 
being  most  generally  shown  in  the  petty  legality  and 
short-sighted  selfishness  which  were  marking  all  the  rela- 


(lence  as  to  tlio  temper  of  tlio  colony  before  that  quostiou  could  have  arisen,  it  does  not 
seem  that  it  can  be  as»unie<l  to  liave  much  to  do  with  the  point  at  ii<Mue. 

Lack  of  space  prevents  my  following  tlie  development  of  the  colony  in  its  more  com- 
plex history  as  a  part  of  the  United  States.  What  the  nature  of  that  development  has 
been  however  may  I  think  he  correctly  inferred  from  the  fact  that  even  by  182;}  we  are 
told  of  "  tlie  adoijtion  of  that  people  into  the  Rreat  American  family  having  now  suiwr- 
added  many  features  of  the  English  jurisprudence  to  those  already  stamped  upon  the 
institutions  of  Louisiana  by  the  French  and  Spanish."  (North  American  Review, 
XVII,  244.)  When  in  1^20  Edward  LivinRstone  was  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  Louisiana  to  draw  up  a  report  on  a  new  criminal  code,  one  of  the  objects  of  the  same 
was  laid  down  as  being,  "  To  .abrogate  the  reference  which  now  exists  to  a  foreign  law 
for  the  definition  of  offences  and  the  mode  of  pro.secuting  them."  (Ibid.)  Before  1839 
we  find  that  the  success  acliii'vod  in  the  Americanizing  of  the  territory  is  such  as  to 
attract  the  envious  attention  of  the  English  element  which  in  Quebec  was  at  that 
moment  struggling  witli  the  cislminution  of  the  long  period  of  increasingly  bitter  hos- 
tility there  between  the  French  and  English.  Lord  Durham  tells  us  (Uriiorton  Cnnada, 
1839)  that  they  [the  English]  "talk  freciuently  and  loudly  of  what  has  occurred  in 
Louisiana,  where  .  .  .  the  end  .  .  .  of  .securing  an  English  predominance  over  a 
French  population  lias  unchmbtedly  been  attained ; "  and  in  his  final  recommendations 
as  to  remedying  the  Canadian  troubles  he  points  out  that  "  The  influence  of  i)erfectly 
equal  and  popular  institutions  in  the  effacing  distinctions  of  race  without  di.sorder  or 
oppression  and  with  little  more  than  the  ordinary  animosities  of  party  in  a  free  country, 
is  memorably  ozomplifled  in  the  history  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  the  laws  and  popu- 
lation of  which  were  French  at  the  time  of  its  cession  to  the  American  Uniou." 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  537 

tions  with  the  older  colonies.  What  I  wish  especially  to 
call  attention  to  here  is  the  effect  that  this  attitude  and  its  re- 
sults already  in  Quebec,  must  have  had  at  the  close  of  the 
war  upon  those  who  were  compelled  to  seek  refuge  from  the 
victorious  colonists  in  other  parts  of  the  British  domin- 
ions. These  United  Empire  Loyalists  were  of  the  same 
temper,  I  have  shown  above,  as  the  English  already  resi- 
dent in  Quebec;  even  if  the  Quebec  Act  did  not  fill  them  with 
the  same  lively  apprehension  of  tyranny  that  it  aroused  in 
these  and  in  the  revolting  colonists,  it  must  yet  have  been 
in  a  high  degree  obnoxious.  The  immediate  effect  is  doubt- 
less to  a  very  considerable  degree  expressed  in  the  fact  that 
of  the  50,000  Loyalists  (approximately),  who  settled  in  the 
remaining  British  Provinces  during  and  within  a  few  years 
after  the  war,  only  about  one-quarter  chose  the  oldest  and 
presumably  much  the  most  attractive  part  of  the  country. 
And  of  those  who  did  choose  the  Province  of  Quebec,  prac- 
tically none  it  would  seem,  elected  to  settle  amongst  the 
French  Canadians  (where  previous  to  the  new  constitution 
a  large  amount  of  land  had  been  eagerly  taken  possession  of 
by  their  compatriots),  but  went  instead  into  the  untrodden 
wilderness.  It  is  true  that  by  so  doing  they  did  not  es- 
cape the  dominion  of  the  new  order  of  things,  for  they  re- 
mained subject  to  the  Quebec  Act  till  1791;  but  they  could 
hope  thereby  to  reduce  the  necessary  evil  to  a  minimum 
(as  proved  the  case),  and  to  build  up  with  greater  pros- 
pects of  success  the  active  opposition  to  it  that  they  at 
once  entered  upon. 

What  would  have  been  the  consequences  at  the  time  of 
this  migration  of  the  existence  in  Quebec  of  a  constitution, 
not  indeed  wholly  English  either  in  fact  or  promise,  but 
with  an  English  admixture  sufficient  to  afford  a  working  basis 
and  a  guarantee  with  regard  to  the  line  of  development? 
It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  English  immigration 
into  the  Province  would  have  been  so  largely  increased 
ihat  the  balance  of  population  would  thereby  have  been  at 


538  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

once  in  considerable  degree  redressed.  As  a  result  a  se- 
curity would  have  been  thereby  provided  that  all  the 
English  conditions  that  had  already  obtained  would  have 
been  upheld  with  accelerating  influence,  and  that  develop- 
ment would  have  proceeded  mainly  along  that  line.  The 
large  degree  of  influence  that  had  been  so  rapidly  gained 
by  the  few  English  over  the  French  Canadian  masses  in  the 
period  1763-1774,  would  probably  have  steadily  increased; 
the  new  French  Canadian  native  leaders,  who  had  already 
shown  a  very  considerable  degree  of  knowledge  of  and  apti- 
tude for  English  conditions,  would  have  coelesced  more 
and  more  with  the  English  element;  the  whole  history  of 
Quebec  and  Canada  would  in  short  have  run  a  different 
course.  As  it  was,  we  find  that  the  Quebec  Act  bestows 
on  the  Province,  even  from  the  French  standpoint,  only 
misfortune;  that  under  it  the  law  is  uncertain  and  its  ad- 
ministration almost  anarchy;'  that  the  English  and  French 
elements  enter  with  the  addition  to  the  numbers  of  the  for- 
mer after  the  war,  on  a  period  of  bitter  political  strife; 
that  finally  in  1791  the  British  government,  while  pacify- 
ing the  main  body  of  the  English  discontents  by  forming 
them  into  a  new  Province,  at  the  same  time  continues  and 
confirms  thereby  the  policy  of  1774,  with  apparently  a 
more  conscious  purpose  of  such  a  use  of  the  French  nation- 
ality as  might  perhaps  be  justly  expressed  in  the  maxim 
divide  et  imi  ora.  It  was  a  development  of  the  Quebec  Act 
policy  that  was  largely  due  to  the  intervening  revolu- 
tionary war;  but  such  a  development  was  possible 
only  on  the  basis  of  that  Act  and  the  results  of  its 
seventeen  years'  operation.  It  denotes  the  unaccountable 
persistence  in  the  British  mind  of  the  idea  as  to  the  effi- 
cacy of  the  measure  in  preserving  the  Province  from 
the  grasp  of  the  revolutionists,  and  a  determination  to 
^uard  against  similar  danger  in  the  future  by  keeping  to 
and  developing  this  line  of  action.     As  Lord  Durham  ex- 

1  See  above,  pp.  i77-9. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  539 


Hfiii 


pressed  it  in  1839,  "the  system  of  Government  pursued  in 
Lower  Canada  has  been  based  on  the  policy  of  perpetuat- 
ing that  very  separation  of  the  races,  and  encouraging 
these  very  notions  of  conflicting  nationalities  which  it 
ought  to  have  been  the  first  and  chief  care  of  Government 
to  check  and  extinguish.  From  the  period  of  the  con- 
quest to  the  present  time  the  conduct  of  the  Government 
has  aggravated  the  evil,  and  the  origin  of  the  present  ex- 
treme disorder  may  be  found  in  the  institutions  by  which 
the  character  of  the  colony  was  determined. " '  The  "ex- 
treme disorder "  referred  to  was  the  result  of  the  fact 
that  by  the  act  of  1791  the  way  was  left  clear  within  the 
province  of  Quebec  for  that  period  of  embittered  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  small  English  minority  which  was  to 
end  in  civil  war,  and  in  the  vain  attempt  of  1840  to  undo  the 
work  of  the  previous  sixty- six  years  by  stifling  the  French 
niajority  in  a  reunion  with  the  English  mass  of  Upper 
Canada.  What  degree  of  responsibility  for  this  crisis 
of  race  hostility  rested  on  the  policy  definitely  inaugu- 
rated in  1774  and  confirmed  in  1791,  is  forcibly  shown 
above  in  the  words  of  the  special  Imperial  Commissioner 
who  was  sent  out  in  1839  to  deal  with  that  crisis.  His  re- 
port further  points  out  how  from  the  Conquest  "  the  con- 
tinued negligence  of  the  British  Government  left  the 
mass  of  the  people  without  any  of  the  institutions  which 
would  have  elevated  them  in  freedom  and  civilization.  It 
has  left  them  without  the  education  and  without  the 
institutions  of  local  self-government,  that  would  have 
assimilated  their  character  and  habits,  in  the  easiest  and 
best  way,  to  those  of  the  empire  of  which  they  became  a 
part."''  The  evil  policy  of  1774  was,  he  adds,  adhered  to 
ii^  1791,  when  "instead  of  availing  itself  of  the  means 
which  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  province  afforded  for 
the  gradual  introduction  of  such  an  English  population  into 

•  Report,  p.  27. 
*Ihid. ,  p.  12. 


640  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

the  various  parts  as  might  have  easily  placed  the  French 
in  a  minority,  the  Government  deliberately  constituted  the 
French  into  a  majority,  and  recognized  and  strengthened 
their  distinct  national  character.  Had  the  sounder  policy 
of  making  the  province  E'lglish  in  all  its  institutions  been 
adopted  from  the  first  and  steadily  persevered  in,  the  French 
would  probably  have  been  speedily  outnumbered,  and  the 
beneficial  operation  of  the  free  institutions  of  England 
would  never  have  been  impeded  by  the  animosities  of 
origin." '  And  as  noticed  above  he  points  to  the  history  of 
Louisiana  as  an  example  of  what  might  and  should  have 
been  done. 

It  therefore  does  not  seem  an  extreme  view  to  regard  the 
great  difiiculties  that  have  beset  English  rule  in  Canada, 
as  well  as  the  grave  problems  that  still  confront  the 
Dominion,  as  a  natural  and  logical  development  from  the 
policy  of  the  Quebec  Act.  And  if  I  am  mistaken  in  my  opin- 
ion of  the  comparative'ease  and  completeness  with  which 
these  difficulties  and  problems  could  have  been  avoided, 
and  with  which  from  the  time  of  the  conquest  the  province 
could  have  been  started  on  the  path  of  assimilation  to  Eng- 
lish conditions,  it  must  be  admitted  that  I  err  in  good  com- 
pany, both  of  that  time  and  of  this.  In  the  tract  reputedly 
Franklin's,  entitled,  "The  Interest  of  Great  Britain  con- 
sidered, with  regard  to  her  colonies,  and  the  acquisition  of 
Canada  and  Gaudaloupe,"  the  following  opinion  is  expressed 
of  the  future  of  the  new  province :  "  Those  who  are  Prot- 
estant among  the  French  will  probably  choose  to  remain 
under  the  British  government,-  many  will  choose  to  remove 
if  they  can  be  allowed  to  sell  their  lands,  improvements 
and  effects;  the  rest  in  that  thinly  settled  country  will  in 
less  than  one-half  a  century,  from  the  crowds  of  English 
settling  round  and  among  them,  be  blended  and  incorpor 
ated  with  our  people  both  in  language  and  manners. "     Lord 

1  Report,  p.  29. 

*  See  p.  288  above  for  the  facts  as  to  emixratioa. 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  541 

Durham's  opinion  of  the  policy  that  should  have  been  fol- 
lowed, and  of  the  degree  of  success  that  might  have  been 
attained  from  the  first,  has  already  been  quoted.  So  con- 
vinced was  he  of  its  necessity  and  practicability  that  he 
strongly  urged  the  adoption  of  that  policy  even  at  ""he  late 
date  at  which  he  wrote.  "  Without  effecting  the  change  so 
rapidly  or  so  roughly  as  to  shock  the  feelings  and 
trample  on  the  welfare  of  the  existing  generation,  it  must 
henceforth  "  he  declared,  "  be  the  first  and  steady  purpose 
of  the  British  Government  to  establish  an  English  popula- 
tion with  English  laws  and  language  in  this  Province,  and 
to  trust  its  government  to  none  but  a  decidedly  English 
Legislature."'  In  his  view  this  apparently  harsh  policy 
was  the  truest  mercy  to  the  French  Canadians,  "  isolated 
in  the  midst  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  world. "  For,  "  it  is  but  to 
determine  whether  the  small  number  of  French  who  now 
inhabit  Lower  Canada  shall  be  made  English  under  a  Gov- 
ernment which  can  protect  them,  or  whether  the  process 
shall  be  delayed  until  a  much  larger  number  shall  have  to 
undergo,  at  the  rude  hands  of  its  uncontrolled  rivals  the 
extinction  of  a  nationality  strengthened  and  embittered  by 
continuance. "  -  Finally  on  this  point  I  will  quote  the  words 
of  the  most  prominent  of  modern  students  of  Canadian 
history  and  prospects, — Goldwin  Smith.  To  Anglicize 
Quebec  at  the  Conquest  he  declares  "  would  not  have  been 
hard.  Her  French  inhabitants  of  the  upper  class  had,  for 
the  most  part,  quitted  her  after  the  conquest  and  sailed 
with  their  property  for  France.  There  remained  only 
70,000  peasants,  to  whom  their  language  was  not  so  dear 
as  it  was  to  a  member  of  the  Institute,  who  knew  not  the 
difference  between  codes  so  long  as  they  got  justice,  and 
among  whom,  harsh  and  abrupt  change  being  avoided,  the 
British  tongue  and  law  might  have  been  gradually  and 
painlessly  introduced. "  ^ 

1  Report,  p.  128. 

»  ni<i.,  p.  l:«J. 

*  Canada  and  the  Canadian  Question,  p.  81. 


642  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Apart  from  speculation  or  the  consideration  of  national 
or  natural  rights,  my  judgment  of  the  Quebec  Act  and  my 
opinion  as  to  alternative  measures  must  rest  upon  the  facts 
which  I  have  brought  forward.  I  have  tried  to  show  that 
in  ten  years  of  British  civil  rule,  the  French  Canadian 
had  advanced  steadily  in  the  comprehension  of  English 
principles  of  society  and  government,  and  had  lived  in 
prosperity  and  fair  contentment;'  that  by  1774  he  was 
ready  for  a  compromise  civil  code  which  might  have  left 
him  the  principles  of  the  regulation  of  landed  property  to 
which  he  was  most  wedded,  and  yet  have  proclaimed  itself 
as  an  EnglMi  code,  the  starting  point  of  English  accumu- 
lation. This  would  have  established  a  system  which  with 
regard  to  land  would  not  from  the  very  beginning  have 
been  without  analogy  in  England  itself  at  that  period,  and 
which  on  all  other  important  sides,  including  procedure, 
would  have  been  exclusively  English  in  spirit,  substance 
and  development.  With  this  aspect  the  Province  could 
not  have  presented  to  English-speaking  immigrants  at  the 
close  of  the  American  war  the  forbidding  features  that  it 
did  present  under  French  law.  This  does  not  seem  a 
visionary  outcome  with  regard  to  the  most  difficult  of  the 
matters  involved,  the  Civil  Code.  The  grant  of  represen- 
tative institutions  and  the  fostering  of  local  self-govern- 
ment would  naturally  accompany  the  English  legal  aspect. 
Connected  with  settlement  there  might  have  been,  and 
would  almost  necessarily  have  been,  an  avoidance  of  those 
other  features  of  the  Quebec  Act  settlement  which  I  have 
shown  above  were  objectionable  to  the  mass  of  the  people, 
and  the  only  discoverable  causes  of  their  disloyalty  in  the 
American  invasion.  With  a  system  distinctly  and  avow- 
edly English  in  spirit  and  main  substance  there  would  have 

I  How  speedily  tlie  Quebec  Act  liad  ojjerated  for  the  undoing  of  this  work  may  bo 
judg<?d  from  Pitt's  declaration  in  1791  in  regard  to  the  separation  into  two  Provinces  by 
the  Constitutional  Act,  that  "he  bad  made  the  division  of  the  province  essential,  because 
he  conld  not  otherwise  reconcile  their  clashing  interests"  [i,  e.  of  the  English  and 
French  elements].    Pari.  Ilist.  XXIX,  404. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  543 

been  no  room  for  those  fears  as  to  reversion  to  the  old 
feudal  order  which  so  aroused  the  peasantry ,  and  conse- 
quently no  field  of  labor  for  the  revolutionary  agitator; 
in  the  absence  of  the  so-called  establishing  of  the  Church 
there  would  have  been  lacking  that  most  distasteful  re-fast- 
ening upon  them  of  compulsory  tithes.  In  other  words, 
without  any  conceivable  antagonizing  on  other  grounds  of 
the  ordinary  French  Canadian,  there  would  have  been 
avoided  all  those  aspects  of  the  Act  by  which  alone  can  be 
explained  the  hostile  attitude  of  the /<a?M7ariMuring  the  war; 
while  the  greatest  of  all  steps  would  have  been  taken  for 
the  preserving  of  the  future  from  the  perils  of  racial  hos- 
tility and  alien  institutions.  The  various  lines  along  which 
Anglicising  might  for  the  future  have  proceeded  can  be  as 
easily  imagined  as  described;  the  way  of  every  one  was 
effectually  barred  by  the  Quebec  Act. 


544  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


APPENDIX  I. 

THE  QUEBEC  ACT,   1774/ 

An  act  for  making  more  effectual  Provision  for  the  Government 
of  the  Province  of  Quebec  in  North  America. 

Whereas  his  Majesty,  by  his  Royal  Proclamation,  bear- 
ing date  the  seventh  Day  of  October,  in  the  third  Year  of 
his  Reign,  thought  fit  to  declare  the  Provisions  which  had 
been  made  in  respect  to  certain  Countries,  Territories  and 
Islands  in  America,  ceded  to  his  Majesty  by  the  definitive 
Treaty  of  Peace,  concluded  at  Paris  on  the  tenth  Day  of 
February,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three; 
And  whereas,  by  the  Arrangements  made  by  the  said  Royal 
Proclamation,  a  very  large  Extent  of  Country,  within  which 
there  were  several  Colonies  and  Settlements  of  the  Subjects 
of  France,  who  claimed  to  remain  therein  under  the  Faith 
of  the  said  Treaty,  was  left  without  any  Provision  being 
made  for  the  Administration  of  Civil  Government  therein; 
and  certain  Parts  of  the  Territory  of  Canada,  where  seden- 
tary Fisheries  had  been  established  and  carried  on  by  the 
Subjects  of  France,  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Province  of 
Canada,  under  Grants  and  Concessions  from  the  Govern- 
ment thereof,  were  annexed  to  the  Government  of  New- 
foundland, and  thereby  subjected  to  regulations  inconsist- 
ent with  the  Nature  of  such  Fisheries:  May  it  therefore 
please  your  most  Excellent  Majesty  that  it  may  be  enacted; 
and  be  it  enacted  by  the  King's  most  Excellent  Majesty,  by 

)  14  Qeo.  III.,  Cap.  83.   la  faUfrom  British  Statutes  at  Large  (Loudon,  1776),  xii.,  pp. 
184-187. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OP  QUEHEC,    1700-76.  545 

and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Lords  Spiritual  and 
Temporal,  and  Commons,  in  this  present  Parliament  as- 
sembled, and  by  the  Authority  of  the  same,  That  all  the  Ter- 
ritories, Islands  and  Countries  in  North  America,  belonging 
to  the  Crown  of  Oreaf  Britain,  bounded  on  the  South  by  a 
Line  from  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  along  the  High  Lands  which 
divide  the  Rivers  that  empty  themselves  into  the  River 
Saint  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Sea,  to  a 
point  in  forty-five  Degrees  of  Northern  Latitude,  on  the  East- 
ern bank  of  the  River  Connecticut,  keeping  the  same  Lati- 
tude directly  West,  through  the  Lake  Chamjjlain,  until,  in 
the  same  Latitude,  it  meets  the  River  Saint  Lawrence:  from 
thence  up  the  Eastern  Bank  of  the  said  River  to  the  Lake 
Ontario;  thence  through  the  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  River 
commonly  called  Niagara;  and  thence  along  by  the  Eastern 
and  the  South-eastern  Bank  of  Lake  Erie,  following  the 
said  Bank,  until  the  same  shall  be  intersected  by  the  North- 
ern Boundary,  granted  by  the  Charter  of  the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  case  the  same  shall  be  so  intersected;  and 
from  thence  along  the  said  Northern  and  Western  Bound- 
aries of  the  said  Province,  until  the  said  Western  Boundary 
strike  the  Ohio:  But  in  case  the  said  Bank  of  the  said  Lake 
shall  not  be  found  to  be  so  intersected,  then  following  the 
said  Bank  until  it  shall  arrive  at  that  Point  of  the  said 
Bank  which  shall  be  nearest  to  the  North-western  Angle  of 
the  said  Province  of  Pennsijlvania,  and  thence  by  a  right 
line,  to  the  said  North-western  Angle  of  the  said  Province; 
and  thence  along  the  Western  Boundary  of  the  said  Prov- 
ince, until  it  strike  the  River  Ohio:  and  along  the  Bank  of 
the  said  R'ver,  Westward,  to  the  Banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  Northward  to  the  Southern  Boundary  of  the  Territory 
granted  to  the  Merchants  Adventurers  of  England,  trading 
to  Hudson's  Bay;  and  also  all  such  Territories,  Islands,  and 
Countries,  which  have,  since  the  tenth  of  February,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three,  been  made  Part  of 
the  Government  of  Newfcrundland,  be,  and  they  are  hereby, 


546  BULLETIN  OF  Th«   UNIVER8ITT  OP  WISCONSIN. 

during  his  Majesty's  Pleasure,  annexed  to,  and  made  Part 
and  Parcel  of,  the  Province  of  Quebec,  as  created  and  es- 
tablished by  the  said  Royal  Proclamation  of  the  seventh  of 
October,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty -three. 

II.  Provided  always,  That  nothing  herein  contained,  rela- 
tive to  the  Boundary  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  shall  in 
anywise  affect  the  Boundaries  of  any  other  Colony. 

III.  Provided  always,  and  be  it  enacted.  That  nothing  in 
this  Act  contained  shall  extend,  cr  be  construed  to  extend, 
to  make  void,  or  to  vary  or  alter  any  Right,  Title,  or  Posses- 
sion, derived  under  any  Grant,  Conveyance,  or  otherwise 
howsoever,  of  or  to  any  Lands  within  the  said  Province,  or 
the  Provinces  thereto  adjoining;  but  that  the  same  shall  re- 
main and  be  in  Force,  and  have  Effect,  as  if  this  Act  had 
never  been  made. 

IV.  And  whereas  the  Provisions,  made  by  the  said  Proc- 
lamation, in  respect  to  the  Civil  Government  of  the  said 
Province  of  Quebec,  and  the  Powers  and  Authorities  given 
to  the  Governor  and  other  Civil  Officers  of  the  said  Province, 
by  the  Grants  and  Commissions  issued  in  consequence 
thereof,  have  been  found,  upon  Experience,  to  be  inapplica- 
ble to  the  State  and  Circumstances  of  the  said  Province,  the 
Inhabitants  whereof  amounted,  at  the  Conquest,  to  above 
sixty-five  thousand  Persons  professing  the  Religion  ol"  the 
Church  of  Borne,  and  enjoying  an  established  Form  of  Con- 
stitution and  System  of  Laws,  by  which  their  Persons  and 
Property  had  been  protected,  governed,  and  ordered,  for  a 
long  Series  of  Years,  from  the  first  Establishment  of  the 
said  Province  of  Canada;  be  it  therefore  further  enacted 
by  the  Authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  Proclamation,  so 
far  as  the  same  relates  to  the  said  Province  of  Quebec,  and 
the  Commission  under  the  Authority  whereof  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  said  Province  is  at  present  administered,  and 


COFFIN — THE  PttOVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  54*7, 

all  and  every  the  Ordinance  and  Ordinances  made  by  the 
Governor  and  Council  of  Quebec  for  the  time  being,  relative 
to  the  Civil  Government  and  Administration  of  Justice  in 
the  sai^.  Province,  and  all  Commissions  to  Judges  and  other 
OfiRcers  thereof,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  revoked,  an- 
nulled, and  made  void,  from  and  after  the  first  Day  of  May, 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy- five. 

V.  And,  for  the  more  perfect  Security  and  Ease  of  the 
Minds  ol  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Province,  it  is  hereby 
declared.  That  his  Majesty's  Subjects,  professing  the  Relig- 
ion of  the  Church  of  Rome  of  and  in  the  said  Province  of 
Quebec,  may  have,  hold,  and  enjoy,  the  free  Exercise  of  the 
Religion  of  the  Church  of  Itome,  subject  to  the  King's 
Supremacy,  declared  and  established  by  an  Act,  made  in 
the  first  year  of  the  Reign  of  Queen  Elaabeth,  over  all  the 
Dominions  and  Countries  which  then  did,  or  thereafter 
should  belong,  to  the  Imperial  Crown  of  this  Realm;  and 
that  the  Clergy  of  the  said  Church  may  hold,  receive,  and 
enjoy,  their  accustomed  Dues  and  Rights,  with  respect  to 
such  Persons  only  as  shall  profess  the  said  Religion. 

VI.  Provided  nevertheless,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  his 
Majesty,  his  Heirs  or  Successors,  to  make  such  Provision 
out  of  the  rest  of  the  said  accustomed  Dues  and  Rights, 
for  the  Encouragement  of  the  Protestant  Religion,  and  for 
the  Maintenance  and  Support  of  a  Protestant  Clergy 
within  the  said  Province,  as  he  or  they  shall,  from  Time  to 
Time,  think  necessary  and  expedient. 

VII.  Provided  always,  and  be  it  enacted,  That  no  Person, 
professing  the  Religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  resid- 
ing in  the  said  Province,  shall  be  obliged  to  take  the  Oath  re- 
quired by  the  said  Statute  passed  in  the  first  Year  of  the 
Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  any  other  Oaths  substituted 
by  any  other  Act  in  the  place  'hereof ;  but  that  every  such 


548  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Person  who,  by  the  said  Statute,  is  required  to  take  the 
Oath  therein  mentioned,  shall  be  obliged,  and  is  herebj'  re- 
quired, to  take  and  subscribe  the  following  Oath  before  the 
Governor,  or  such  other  Person  in  such  Court  of  Record  as 
his  Majesty  shall  appoint,  who  are  hereby  authorized  to  ad- 
minister the  same;  videlicet, 

I  A.  B.  do  sincei'oly  promise  and  swear,  Tlint  I  will  be  faithful,  and  b(>nr  trup  Alle- 
gianco  to  lii.s  Majesty  Kinj;  GnorRO,  and  liini  will  defend  to  the  utmost  of  my  Power, 
against  all  traitorous  Conspiracies,  and  Attempts  whatsoever,  which  sliall  bo  made 
against  his  Person,  Crown,  and  Dignity  ;  and  I  will  do  my  utmost  Endeavour  to  disclose 
and  make  known  to  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  all  Treasons,  and  traitorous 
Conspiracies,  and  Attempts,  which  I  shall  know  to  be  against  him,  or  any  of  them  ;  and 
all  this  I  do  swear  without  any  Ecpiivocation,  mental  Evasion,  or  secret  Kesorvation, 
and  renouncing  all  Pardons  and  Dispensations  from  any  Power  or  Person  whomsoever 
to  the  contrary.  So  hvlp  me  O'oil. 

And  every  such  person,  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  take 
the  said  Oath  before  mentioned,  shall  incur  and  be  liable 
to  the  same  Penalties,  Forfeitures,  Disabilities,  and  Inca- 
pacities, as  he  would  have  incurred  and  been  liable  to  for 
neglecting  or  refusing  to  take  the  Oath  required  by  the 
said  Statute  passed  in  the  first  Year  of  the  Reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth. 

VIII.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
said. That  all  his  Majesty's  Canadian  Subjects  within  the 
Province  of  Quebec,  the  Religious  Orders  and  Communities 
only  excepted,  may  also  hold  and  enjoy  their  Property  and 
Possessions,  together  with  all  Customs  and  Usages  relative 
thereto,  and  all  other  their  Civil  Rights,  in  as  large,  ample, 
and  beneficial  Manner,  as  if  the  said  Proclamation,  Com- 
missions, Ordinances,  and  other  Acts  and  Instruments,  had 
not  been  made,  and  as  may  consist  with  their  Alle- 
giance to  his  Majesty,  and  Subjection  to  tli  ^  Crown  and 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain;  and  that  in  all  Matters  of 
Controversy,  relative  to  Property  and  Civil  Rights,  Resort 
shall  be  had  to  the  Laws  of  Canada,  as  the  Rule  for  the 
Decision  of  the  same ;  and  all  Causes  that  shall  hereafter 
be  instituted  in  any  of  the  Courts  of  Justice,  to  be  appointed 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  549 

within  and  for  the  said  Province  by  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs 
and  Successors,  shall,  with  respect  to  such  Property  and 
Rights,  be  determined  agreeably  to  the  said  Laws  and  Cus- 
toms of  Canada,  until  they  shall  be  varied  or  altered  by 
any  Ordinances  that  shall,  from  Time  to  Time,  be  passed  in 
the  said  Province  by  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
or  Commander  in  Chief,  for  the  time  being,  by  and  with  the 
Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  the  same, 
to  be  appointed  in  Manner  herein- after  mentioned. 

IX.  Provided  always,  That  nothing  in  this  Act  contained 
shall  extend,  or  be  construed  to  extend,  to  any  Lands  that 
have  been  granted  by  his  Majesty,  or  shall  hereafter  be 
granted  by  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  to  be 
holden  in  free  and  common  Soccage. 

X.  Provided  also,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and 
for  every  Person  that  is  owner  of  any  Lands,  Goods,  or 
Credits,  in  the  said  Province,  and  that  has  a  right  to  alien- 
ate the  said  Lands,  Goods,  or  Credits,  in  his  or  her  Life- 
time, by  Deed  of  Sale,  Gift,  or  otherwise,  to  devise  or 
bequeath  the  same  at  his  or  her  Death,  by  his  or  her  last 
"Will  and  Testament;  any  Law,  Usage,  or  Custom,  hereto- 
fore or  now  prevailing  in  the  Province,  to  the  contrary 
hereof  in  any-wise  notwithstanding;  such  will  being  exe- 
cuted either  according  to  the  Laws  of  Canada,  or  according 
to  the  Forms  prescribed  by  the  Laws  of  England. 

XI.  And  whereas  the  Certainty  and  Lenity  of  the  Crim- 
inal Law  of  England,  and  the  Benefits  and  Advantages  re- 
sulting from  the  Use  of  it,  have  been  sensiblj^  felt  by  the 
Inhabitants,  from  an  Experience  of  more  than  nine  years, 
during  which  it  has  been  uniformly  administered;  be  it 
therefore  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that 
the  same  shall  continue  to  be  administered,  and  shall  be  ob- 
served as  Law  in   the  Province  of  Quebec,   as  well  in  the 

Description  and  Quality  of  the  Offence  as  in  the  Method  of 
18 


550         ^  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Prosecution  and  Trial;  and  the  Punishments  and  Forfeit- 
ures thereby  inflicted  to  the  Exclusion  of  every  other  Rule 
of  Criminal  Law,  or  Mode  of  Proceeding  thereon,  which 
did  or  might  prevail  in  the  said  Province  before  the  Year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four; 
any  Thing  in  this  Act  to  the  contrary  thereof  in  any  respect 
notwithstanding;  subject  nevertheless  to  such  Alterations 
and  Amendments  as  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-governor,  or 
Commander-in-Chief  for  the  Time  being,  by  and  with  the 
Advice  and  Consent  of  the  legislative  Council  of  the  said 
Province,  hereafter  to  be  appointed,  shall,  from  Time  to 
Time,  cause  to  be  made  therein,  in  Manner  herein- after 
directed. 

XII.  And  whereas  it  may  be  necessary  to  ordain  many 
Regulations  for  the  future  Welfare  and  good  Government 
of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  the  Occasions  of  which  cannot 
now  be  foreseen,  nor,  without  much  Delay  and  Inconven- 
ience, be  provided  for,  v/ithout  intrusting  that  Authority, 
for  a  certain  time,  and  under  proper  restrictions,  to  Persons 
resident  there :  And  whereas  it  is  at  present  inexpedient  to 
call  an  Assembly;  be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid,  that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  his  Majesty, 
his  Heirs  and  Successors,  by  Warrant  under  his  or  their 
Signet  or  Sign  Manual,  and  with  the  Advice  of  the  Privy 
Council,  to  constitute  and  appoint  a  Council  for  the  Affairs 
of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  to  consist  of  such  Persons  resi- 
dent there,  not  exceeding  twenty-three,  nor  less  than  seven- 
teen, as  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  shall  be 
pleased  to  appoint;  and,  upon  the  Death,  Removal,  or 
Absence  of  any  of  the  Members  of  the  said  Council,  in  like 
Manner  to  constitute  and  appoint  such  and  so  many  oihor 
Person  or  Persons  as  shall  be  necessary  to  supply  the  Va- 
cancy or  Vacancies;  which  Council,  so  appointed  and  nom- 
inated, or  the  Major  Part  thereof,  shall  have  Power  and 
Authority  to  make  Ordinances  for  the  Peace,  Welfare,  and 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,   1760-76.  551 

good  Government,  of  the  said  Province,  with  the  Consent 
of  his  Majesty's  Governor,  or,  in  his  Absence,  of  the  Lieu- 
tenant-governor, or  Commander-in-Chief  for  the  time 
being. 

XIII.  Provided  always,  That  nothing  in  this  Act  contained 
shall  extend  to  authorize  or  empower  the  said  legislative 
Council  to  lay  any  Taxes  or  Duties  within  the  said  Prov- 
ince, such  Rates  and  Taxes  only  excepted  as  the  Inhabit- 
ants of  any  Town  or  District  within  the  said  Province  may 
be  authorized  by  the  said  Council  to  assess,  levy,  and  ap- 
ply, within  the  said  Town  or  District,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  Roads,  erecting  and  repairing  publick  Buildings, 
or  for  any  other  Purpose  respecting  the  local  Convenience 
and  Oeconomy  of  such  Town  or  District. 

XIV.  Provided  also,  and  be  it  enacted  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid,  That  every  Ordinance  so  to  be  made,  shall,  within 
six  months,  be  transmitted  by  the  Governor,  or,  in  his  ab- 
sence, by  the  Lieutenant-governor,  or  Commander-in-Chief 
for  the  time  being,  and  laid  before  his  Majesty  for  his  Royal 
Approbation;  and  if  his  Majesty  shall  think  fit  to  disal- 
low thereof,  the  same  shall  cease  and  be  void  from  the 
Time  that  his  Majesty's  Order  in  Council  thereupon  shall 
be  promulgated  at  Quebec. 

XV.  Provided  also,  that  no  Ordinance  touching  Relig- 
ion, or  by  which  any  Punishment  may  be  inflicted  greater 
than  Fine  or  Imprisonment  for  three  Months,  shall  be  of 
any  Force  or  Effect,  until  the  same  shall  have  received  his 
Majesty's  Approbation. 

XVI.  Provided  also,  That  no  Ordinance  shall  be  passed 
at  any  Meeting  of  the  Council  where  less  than  a  Majority  of 
the  whole  Council  is  present,  or  at  any  Time  except  be- 
tween the  first  Day  of  January  and  the  first  day  of  May, 
unless  upon  some  urgent  Occasion,  and  in  such  Case  every 
Member  thereof  resident  at    Quebec,  or  within  fifty  miles 


552  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  WISCONSIN. 

thereof,  shall  be  personally  summoned  by  the  Governor, 
or,  in  his  iSbsence,  by  the  Lieutenant-governor,  or  Com- 
mander in  Chief  for  the  Time  being,  to  attend  the  same. 

XVIT.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
said, That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  extend,  or  be 
construed  to  extend,  to  prevent  or  hinder  his  Majesty,  his 
Heirs  or  Successors,  by  his  or  their  Letters  Patent  under 
the  Great  Seal  of  Great  Britain,  from  erecting,  constituting, 
and  appointing,,  such  Courts  of  Criminal,  Civil,  and  Eccle- 
siastical Jurisdiction  within  and  for  the  said  Province  of 
Quebec,  and  appointing,  from  Time  to  Time,  the  Judges 
and  Officers  thereof,  as  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  Success- 
ors, shall  think  necessary  and  proper  for  the  Circum- 
stances of  the  said  Province. 

XVIII.  Provided  always,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted,  that 
nothing  in  this  Act  contained  shall  extend,  or  be  construed 
to  extend,  to  repeal  or  make  void,  within  the  said  Province 
of  Quebec,  any  Act  or  Acts  of  the  Parliament  of  Oreat 
Britain  heretofore  made,  for  prohibiting,  restraining,  or 
regulating,  the  Trade  or  Commerce  of  his  Majesty's  Col- 
onies and  Plantations  in  America;  but  that  all  and  every 
the  said  Acts,  and  also  all  Acts  of  Parliament  heretofore 
made  concerning  or  respecting  the  said  Colonies  and  Plan- 
tations, shall  be,  and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  in  Force, 
within  the  said  Province  of  Quebec,  and  every  Part  thereof. 


THE   QUEBEC   REVENUE   ACT,   1774.' 

An  Act  to  establish  a  fund  towards  further  defraying  the  charges 
of  the  Administration  of  Justice,  and  support  of  the  Civil 
Government  ivithin  the  Province  of  Quebec  in  America. 

Whereas  certain  duties  were  imposed  by  the  Authority  of 
his  Most  Christian  Majesty  upon  Wine,  Rum,  Brandy,  eau 

1 14  Qeo.  III.,  Cap.  88.    lu  full  from  Britit-h  Statutes  at  Larg<;,  London,  1776. 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  9B»8 

de  vie  cle  liqueur,  imported  into  the  Province  of  Canada,  now 
called  the  Province  of  Quebec,  and  also  a  duty  of  three 
pounds  iJer  centum  ad  valorem  upon  all  dry  Goods  imported 
into  and  exported  from  the  said  Province,  which  Duties  sub- 
sisted at  the  Time  of  the  Surrender  of  the  said  Province  to 
your  Majesty's  Forces  in  the  late  War:  And  whereas  it  is 
expedient  that  the  said  Duties  should  cease  and  be  discon- 
tinued, and  that  in  Lieu  and  in  Stead  thereof  other  Duties 
should  be  raised  by  the  authority  of  Parliament  for  mak- 
ing a  more  adequate  Provision  for  defraying  the  Charge  of 
the  Administration  of  Justice  and  the  Support  of  Civil  Gov- 
ernment in  the  said  Province:  We,  your  Majesty's  most 
dutiful  and  loyal  Subjects,  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain 
in  Parliament  assembled,  do  most  humbly  beseech  your 
Majesty  that  it  may  be  enacted;  and  be  it  enacted  by  the 
King's  most  Excellent  Majesty,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and 
consent  of  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal  and  Commons, 
in  this  present  Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  Authority 
of  the  same:  That  from  and  after  the  fifth  Day  of  Apinl, 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five,  all  the  duties 
which  were  imposed  upon  Rum,  Brandy,  eau  de  vie  de  liqueur, 
within  the  said  Province,  and  also  of  three  pounds  ^jer 
centum  ad  valorem  on  dried  goods  imported  into  or  exported 
from  the  said  Province  under  the  Authority  of  his  most 
Christian  Majesty,  shall  be  and  are  hereby  discontinued; 
and  that  in  Lieu  and  in  Stead  thereof  there  shall  from  and 
after  the  said  fifth  Day  of  April,  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  be  raised,  levied,  collected,  and  paid 
unto  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  for  and  upon 
the  respective  Goods  hereinafter  mentioned,  which  shall  be 
imported  or  brought  into  any  Part  of  the  said  Province, 
over  and  above  all  other  Duties  now  payable  in  the  said 
Province,  by  any  Act  or  Acts  of  Parliament,  the  several 
Rates  and  Duties  following:  that  is  to  say, 

For  every  Gallon  of  Brandy,  or  other  Spirits,  of  the  Manufacture  of 
Oreat  Britain,  Three-pence. 


554  BULLETIN  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF    WISCONSIN. 

For  every  Gallon  of  Rum,  or  other  Spirits,  which  shfvll  be  imported  or 
brought  from  any  of  his  Majesty's  Sugar  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  Six- 
pence. 

For  every  Gallon  of  Rum,  or  other  Spirits  which  shall  be  imported  or 
brought  from  any  other  of  his  Majesty's  Colonies  or  Dominions  in  Amer- 
ica, Nine-pence, 

For  every  Gallon  of  Foreign  Brandy,  or  other  Syjirits  of  Foreign  Manufac- 
ture imported  or  brought  from  Grcdt  Britain,  one  Shilling. 

For  every  Gallon  of  Rum  or  Spirits  of  the  Produce  or  Manufacture  of  any 
of  the  Colonies  or  Plantations  in  Anirrica,  not  in  the  Possession  or  under 
the  Dominion  of  his  Majesty  imported  from  any  other  Place  except  Great 
Britain,  one  Shilling. 

For  every  Gallon  of  Molasses  and  Syrups  which  shall  be  imported  or 
brought  into  the  said  Province  in  Ships  or  Vessels  belonging  to  his  Majesty's 
subjects  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  or  to  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  the 
said  Province,  Threepence. 

For  every  Gallon  of  Molasses  and  Syrups,  which  shall  be  imported  or 
brought  into  the  said  Province  in  any  other  Ships  or  Vossels  in  which  the 
same  may  be  legally  imported,  Six-pence;  and  after  those  Rates  for  any 
greater  or  less  Quantity  of  such  Goods  respectively. 

II.  And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  said  Rates  and  Duties  charged  by  this 
Act  shall  be  deemed,  and  are  hereby  declared,  to  be  Sterl- 
ing Money  of  Great  Britain,  and  shall  be  collected,  re- 
covered, and  paid,  to  the  Amount  of  the  Value  of  which 
such  nominal  Sums  bear  in  Great  Britain;  and  that  such 
Monies  may  be  received  and  ta^ken  according  to  the  Propor- 
tion and  Value  of  five  Shillings  and  Sixpence  the  Ounce  in 
Silver;  and  that  the  said  Duties  hereinbefore  granted  shall 
be  raised,  levied,  collected,  paid,  and  recovered,  in  the  same 
Manner  and  Form,  and  by  such  Rules,  Ways  and  Means, 
and  under  such  Penalties  and  Forfeitures,  except  in  such 
Cases  where  any  Alteration  is  made  b}'  this  Act,  as  any 
other  Duties  payable  to  iiis  Majesty  upon  Goods  imported 
into  any  British  Colony  or  Plantation  in  America  are  or 
shall  be  raised,  levied,  collected,  paid,  and  recovered,  by 
any  Act  or  Acts  of  Parliament,  as  fully  and  effectually,  to 
all  Intents  and  Purposes,  as  if  the  several  Clauses,  Powers, 
Directions,  Penalties,  and  Forfeitures  relating  thereto,  were 
particularly  repeated  and  again  enacted  in  the  Body  of  this 
present  Act:  and  that  all  the  Monies  that  shall  arise  by  the 
said  Duties  (except  the  necessary  Charges  of  raising,  col- 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  Bfi5 

lecting,  levying,  recovering,  answering,  paying,  and  ac- 
counting for  the  same)  shall  be  paid  by  the  Collector  of  his 
Majesty's  Customs,  into  the  hands  of  his  Majesty's  Re- 
ceiver-General in  the  said  Province  for  the  Time  being,  and 
shall  be  applied  in  the  first  place  in  making  a  more  certain 
and  adequate  Provision  towards  defraying  the  Expenses  of 
the  Administration  of  Justice  and  of  the  Support  of  Civil 
Government  in  the  said  Province;  and  that  the  Lord  High 
Treasurer,  or  Commissioners  of  his  Majesty's  Treasury,  or 
any  three  or  more  of  them  for  the  Time  being,  shall  be,  and 
is,  or  are  hereby  impowered,  from  Time  to  Time,  by  any 
Warrant  or  Warrants  under  his  or  their  Hand  or  Hands,  to 
cause  such  Money  to  be  applied  out  of  the  said  Produce  of 
the  said  Duties,  towards  defraying  the  said  Expenses;  and 
that  the  Residue  of  the  said  Duties  shall  remain  and  be  re- 
served in  the  hands  of  the  said  Receiver- General,  for  the 
future  Disposition  of  Parliament. 

III.  And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid  that  if  any  Goods  chargeable  with  any  of  the  said 
Duties  herein-before  mentioned  shall  be  brought  into  the 
said  Province  by  Land  Carriage,  the  same  shall  pass  and  be 
carried  through  the  Port  of  Saint  John's,  near  the  River 
Sorrel,  or  if  such  Goods  shall  be  brought  into  the  said 
Province  by  any  inland  Navigation  other  than  upon  tha 
Ri-ver  Saint  Laivrence,  the  same  shall  pass  and  be  carried 
upoA  the  said  River  Sorrel  by  the  said  Port,  and  shall  be 
there  entered  with,  and  the  said  respective  Rates  and  Duties 
paid  for  the  same,  to  such  OflBcer  or  Officers  of  his  Majesty's 
Customs  as  shall  be  there  appointed  for  that  Purpose;  and 
if  any  such  Goods  coming  by  Land  Carriage  or  inland  Navi- 
gation, as  aforesaid,  shall  pass  by  or  beyond  the  said  place 
before  named,  without  Entry  or  Payment  of  the  said  Rates 
and  Duties,  or  shall  be  brought  into  any  Part  of  the  said 
Province  by  or  through  any  other  Place  whatsoever,  the 
said  Goods  shall  be  forfeited;  and  every  Person  who  shall 


556  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN.  • 

be  assisting,  or  otherwise  concerned  in  the  bringing  or  re- 
moving such  Goods,  or  to  whose  Hands  the  same  shall  come, 
knowing  that  they  were  brought  or  removed  contrary  to 
this  Act,  shall  forfeit  treble  the  Value  of  such  Goods,  to  be 
estimated  and  computed  according  to  the  best  Price  that 
each  respective  Commodity  bears  in  the  Town  of  Quebec,  at 
the  Time  such  Offence  shall  be  committed ;  and  all  the  Horses, 
Cattle,  Boats,  Vessels,  and  other  Carriages  whatsoever, 
made  use  of  in  the  Removal,  Carriage,  or  Conveyance  of  such 
Goods,  shall  also  be  forfeited  and  lost,  and  shall  and  may  be 
seized  by  any  Officer  of  his  Majesty's  Customs,  and  prose- 
cuted as  hereinafter  mentioned. 

IV.  And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  said  Penalties  and  Forfeitures  by  this 
Act  inflicted,  shall  be  sued  for  and  prosecuted  in  any  Court 
of  Admiralty,  or  Vice- Admiralty,  having  jurisdiction  within 
the  said  Province,  and  the  same  shall  and  may  be  recovered 
and  divided  in  the  same  Manner  and  Form,  and  by  the  same 
Rules  and  Regulations  in  all  Respects  as  other  Penalties  and 
Forfeitures  for  Offences  against  the  Laws  relating  to  the 
Customs  and  Trade  of  his  Majesty's  Colonies  in  America 
shall  or  may,  by  any  Act  or  Acts  of  Parliament  be  sued  for, 
prosecuted,  recovered  and  divided. 

V.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid, 
That  there  shall  from  and  after  the  fifth  Day  of  April,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy -five,  be  raised,  levied, 
collected  and  paid  unto  his  Majesty's  Receiver-General  of 
the  said  Province  for  the  Use  of  his  Majesty,  his  Heirs  and 
Successors,  a  Duty  of  one  Pound  sixteen  Shillings,  Sterling 
Money  of  Oreat  Britain,  for  every  License  that  shall  be 
granted  by  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  or  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  said  Province  to  any  Person  or 
Persons  for  keeping  a  House  or  any  other  place  of  publick 
Entertainment,  or  for  the  retailing  Wine,  Brandy,  Rum,  or 


*  COFFIN— THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  557 

any  otherSpirituousLiquors  within  the  said  Province;  and 
any  Person  keeping  any  such  House  or  place  of  Entertain- 
ment, or  retailing  any  such  Liquors  without  such  License 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  Sum  of  ten  Pounds  for  every  such 
Offence,  upon  Conviction  thereof;  one  Moiety  to  such  Person 
as  shall  inform  or  prosecute  for  the  same,  and  the  other 
Moiety  shall  be  paid  into  the  Hands  of  the  Receiver-Gen- 
eral of  the  Province  for  the  Use  of  his  Majesty. 

VI.  Provided  always.  That  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  extend  or  be  construed  to  extend  to  discontinue,  deter- 
mine, or  make  void  any  Part  of  the  territorial  or  casual  Rev- 
enues, Fines,  Rents,  or  Profits  whatsoever,  which  were  re- 
served to,  and  belonged  to  his  Most  Christian  Majesty, 
before  and  at  the  Time  of  the  Conquest  and  Surrender 
thereof  to  his  Majesty,  the  King  of  Great  Britain;  but 
that  the  same  and  bvery  one  of  them,  shall  remain  and  be 
continued  to  be  levied,  collected,  and  paid  in  the  same 
Manner  as  if  this  Act  had  never  been  made;  anything 
therein  contained  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

VII.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
said, That  if  any  Action  or  Suit  shall  be  commenced  against 
any  Person  or  Persons  for  any  thing  done  in  pursuance  of 
this  Act,  and  if  it  shall  appear  to  the  Court  or  Judge  where 
or  before  whom  the  same  shall  be  tried,  that  such  Action 
or  Suit  is  brought  for  any  thing  that  was  done  in  pursuance 
of,  and  by  the  Authority  of  this  Act,  the  Defendant  or  De- 
fendants shall  be  indemnified  and  acquitted  for  the  same; 
and  if  such  Defendant  or  Defendants  shall  be  so  acquitted; 
or  if  the  Plaintiff  shall  discontinue  such  Action  or  Suit, 
such  Court  or  Judge  shall  award  to  the  Defendant  or  De- 
fendants Treble  Costs. 


558  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WI8C0NBIN. 


APPENDIX    II. 


AUTHORITIES. 


No  attempt  is  made  here  to  furnish  a  complete  bibliog- 
raphy. I  have  tried  to  make  use  of  all  the  material  that 
might  bear  on  the  subject;  to  give  a  full  catalogue  of  the 
books  consulted  would  scarcely  be  possible,  and  would  cer- 
tainly appear  pedantic.  In  the  following  list  I  include  in 
the  main  therefore,  only  titles  to  which  reference  has  ac- 
tually been  made.     The  arrangement  is  alphabetical : 

Albemarle  (Earl  of).  Memoirs  of  (he  Marquis  of  Rockingham  and 
his  Contemporarica.    (2  v.    London,  1852.)  r     . 

Almon  (J.).  Anecdotes  of  the  Life  of  Mr.  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham. 
(London,  1793.) 

Almon  (J.).  The  Eemcmbranccr :  A  Repositor y  of  Passing  Events. 
(J.  Dotlsley,  London,  1774,  1775,  1776.) 

Force  (Editor),  American  Archives,  (Fourth  Series,  1774-6,  6  vols. — 
Washington,  1837-46.  Fifth  Series,  1776-83,  3  vols.— Washington, 
1848-53.) 

Ashley  (W.  J.).  Lectures  on  Canadian  Constitutional  History.  (Uni- 
versity of  Toronto.) 

Bancroft  (George).  History  of  the  United  States.  (Author's  last  revi- 
sion.   6  V.    New  York,  1884-5.) 

BouRiNOT  (J.  G.).  Manual  of  the  Constitutional  History  of  Canada. 
(Montreal,  1888.) 

BouRiNOT,  (J.  G.).  Parliamentary  Procedure  and  Practice  in  Canada, 
(Montreal,  1892.) 

Burke  (Edmund).    Correspondence,    (8  v.  London,  1852.) 

Britia\  Statutes  at  Large.    (London,  1776.) 

Calendar  of  Home  Office  Papers  of  the  Reign  of  George  III, 
(1760-5;  1766-9;  1770-2.  London,  1878-81.)  Published  under  direc- 
tion of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

Canadian  Archives.    Furnishing  the  substance  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  study.    The  material  therefor  is  collected  in  the  following  series 
of  copies  of  British  State  Papers: 
a.  State  Papers  and  Correspondence  concerning  the  Province  of 


COFFIN — THE   PROVINCE  OP  QUEBEC,    1760-7G.  659 

Quebec,  17HO-80.  [The  MS.  copies  of  the  more  important  documents 
have  been  compared  with  the  originals  or  original  duplicates  in  the 
Record  and  Colonial  OfficoH,  London.  The  scries  is  calendared  as  Q  in 
the  Reports  of  the  Canadian  Archivist,  beginning  with  that  for  1890. 
It  includes  the  complete  official  corrccpondence  between  the  Secre- 
taries of  State  for  the  Southern  Department  and  the  Colonies,  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  the  Colonial  officials,  together  with  copies  of 
the  more  important  papers  belonging  more  properly  to  the  Privy 
Council  and  the  Treasury,    With  all  documents  concerned.] 

1  b.  The  Hald'nnand  Papern.  (A  copy  in  2.'J2  MS.  volumes  of  the  col- 
lection (deposited  in  the  British  Museum)  of  official  and  other  mat- 
ter accumulated  by  General  llaldimand,  long  and  prominently  con- 
nected with  Quebec,  and  Governor-in-Chief  1778-83.  This  series 
has  been  calendared  as  B  in  the  Reports  of  the  Canadian  Archivist 
(1884-9),  and  has  been  used  mamly  through  that  guidance.] 

Carroll  (John).    Life  of.    (Md.  Hist.  Sue.  1876.) 

Chatham  (Earl  of).  Correspondence.  Edited  by  Taylor  and  Pringle. 
(London,  1838.    4  vol.) 

Christie  (Robert).  Jfistory  of  the  late  Province  of  Lower  Canada, 
(Montreal,  1866.    6  v.) 

Clark  (Charles).    A  Summary  of  Colonicd  Lair,  etc.     (London,  1834). 

Collections  of  the  Ehode  Island   Jlistorioal  Society.    (Providence, 
1827-85.) 

Connecticut,  The  Public  Records  of  the  Colony  of.  [Referred  to  as 
Col.  Records  of  Conn.\    (Hartford,  1850-90.) 

^TEvn^ns  (YtiWior),  Dictionary  of  National  Bioyraphy.  Vol.  XXVI. 
Article  J£iU,  Wills.    (London.) 

Durham  (Earl  of).  The  Jt'rport  on  the  Affairs  of  liritish  North 
America.    (London,  J.  W.  Southgate.) 

Edwards  (Bryan).  Th.:  History,  Civil  and  Commcrsial,  of  the  British 
Colonies  in  the  West  Indies.    (4  v.     Phila.,  1806.) 

Fitzmaurice  (Lord  Edmund),  Life  of  William,  Earl  of  Shelburne. 
(3  V.    London,  1876.) 

Franklin  (Benjamin).  Comjylcte  Works.  Compiled  and  edited  by  John 
Bigelow.    (10  v.    New  York  and  London,  1887-8). 

Garneau  (F.X.).  Histoire  du  Canada  depuis  la  decouverte  juaqu^d 
no8  Jours.    (2  v.  Quebec,  1845-6.) 

GAYARRft.    Louisiana  under  Spanish  Domination.    (New  York,  1854.) 

Orenville  Papers.    (London,  1852.) 

Hart  (A.  B.).    Formation  of  the  Union,  1750-1829.    (New  York,  1892.) 

Henry  (J.  J.).  Account  of  the  Campaign  against  Quebec.  (Albany* 
1877.) 

Hinsdale  (B.  A.)    The  Old  Northwest.    (New  York,  1888.) 


560  BULLETIN  OP  THE  UMVER8ITY  OF   WISCONSIN. 

IliHtoHcul  MnnnacripfH  ComminHlon,  Reports  of.  (txindon,— Eyre  and 
Spottiswootle.) 

Houston  (William).  DocumPutH  Uluatraiive  .tf  Canadian  ConatitU' 
tional  IT'iHtorn.    (Toronto,  1891). 

Jones  (C.  H.).  Campaifjnfor  the  Conqvrxf  of  Canada,  1775-6.  (Phila., 
1882.) 

Journah  of  tho  survivors  of  Arnold's  Expedition  against  QuoViec,  1775-0. 
[These  can  be  easily  referred  to  through  the  names  and  dates  given 
in  tho  text.  A  full  list,  with  exact  titles  and  references  for  finding, 
will  bo  found  in  the  J'rocccflitif/a  MasM.  Jfixt,  Soc.  2nd  Series  II 
(1885-6),  pp.  265-7.  Another  list  with  further  bibliographical  infor- 
tion  is  furnished  as  a  Preface  to  Thayer's  Journal,  in  Coll.  lihode 
Island  Jfifif.  Soc.  (Providence,  1867)  pp.  IV-VIIl. 

Journal  of  the  Principal  Occurrences  Durhuj  the  Siege  of  Que- 
bec .  .  .  ;  collected  from  some  old  MS  S.  originally  written 
by  an  officer  during  the  j)criod  of  the  gallant  defense  made  by 
Sir  Guy  Carleton.  With  Preface  and  notes  by  W.  T.  P.  Shortt. 
(London,  182i.) 

Journal  of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  during  his  visit  to  Canada 
in  177i>.  Edited  by  Brantz  Meyer.  (Md.  Hist.  Soc.  Papers.  Cen- 
tennial Memorial  volume,  1876.) 

Journal  of  Congrens.    Vols.  I.  II.  (Phila.  1777.) 

KiNGSFORD  (W).  The  History  of  Canada.  (8  volumes  published.  To- 
ronto, 1887-95.) 

Lakeau  (Edmund).  Hiatoirc  du  Droit  Canadien.  (2  v.  Montreal, 
1888-9.) 

Lecky  (W.  E.  H.).  a  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
(8  V.    London,  1892.) 

LoasiNo  (B.  J.),  Life  of  General  Philip  Schuyler.  (2  v.  New  York, 
1873.) 

Lower  Canada  Jurist.    Vol.  I. 

MARRiOTT  (James).  Plan  of  a  Code  of  Laws  for  the  Province  of  Que- 
bec.   (London,  1774.) 

Maseres  (Francis),  [Attorney-General  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  1766-9. 
The  most  acute  and  voluminous  of  contemporary  writers  on  Cana- 
dian affairs.  Hasty,  prejudiced,  religiously  intolerant,  and  much 
given  to  legal  discussions;  but  on  the  whole  an  invaluable  witness. 
A  careful  study  has  led  me  to  an  agreement  with  many  of  his  main 
statements  and  conclusions.] 
(a)  A  collection  of  several  commissions,  and  other  public  instru- 
ments proceeding  from  his  Majesty^s  lioyal  Authority,  and 
other  2^ctpers  relating  to  the  state  of  the  Province  of  Quebec. 
(London,  1772.) 


COFFIN — THE  PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC,    1760-76.  561 

(b)  An  account  of  the  Procccdingo  of  the  British  and  other  in- 
hahilantH  of  Quebec.    (London,  1775.) 

(c)  Additional  inqiers  concerning  (lucbAc,     (Lonilon,  1776.) 

(d)  The  Canadian  Freeholder.    ,3  vols.    (London,  1767.) 

New  York,  Docuuunta  relating  to  the  Colonial  .Jlintory  of  the  State 
of.    {Alhany.) 

Netv  llampahire  Provincial  Papers, 

New  Jlarnpahire  State  PapevH. 

Official  Returns  on  Pithlic  Income  and  Expenditure,  Ordered  to 
be  printed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  1869. 

Proceedings  Masnachuaetta  Historical  Society.    (Boston,  1879-95.) 

Proceedings  New  Jerseij  Historical  Society.    (Newark,  1845-77.) 

Parliamentarij  History.  Vols.  XV,  XVI,  XVII,  XVIII,  XXIX.  (Lon- 
don, T.  C.  Hansard,  1813.) 

Quebec  Literary  and  Historical  Society,  Publications  of. 

a.  Historical  Docuinents.    Series  1-5,  Quebec,  18i0-77.) 

b.  Transactions.    (Quebec,  18.37-62.) 

c.  Transactions.    (New  series,  Quebec,  1863-86.) 

QuebeCs  Ordinances  made  for  the  Province  of,  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  the  said  Province  since  the  Establishment  of  the 
Civil  Oovernment.  (Brown  and  Gillmore,  Quebec,  1767.)  [Com- 
pared with  State  Paper  copies.] 

Qy,ebec,  Ordinances  of,  1767-8.  [MS.  in  Toronto  Public  Library  with  no 
place  or  date  affixed.] 

Quebec,  Report  of  the  Debate  in  the  Commons  on  the  Rill  for  the 
Oovernment  of,  1774.  From  notes  of  Sir  Henry  Cavendish,  mem- 
ber for  Lostwithiel.  Edited  by  Wright.  (London,  1839.)  [Re- 
ferred to  as  Cavendish  or  Report.] 

Roosevelt  (Theodore).     Winningof  the  West.   (3  v.  New  Yorlc,  1889-94.) 

Smith  (Goldwin),  Canada  and  the  Canadian  Question.  (Toronto, 
1891.) 

Smith  (Richard).  Diary  of,  1775-6,  (In  American  Hist.  Review,  Janu- 
ary and  April,  1896.) 

Smith  (William).  History  of  Canada  from  its  First  Discovery  to 
1791.     (2v.    Quebec,  1815.)  "   ' 

Southey  (Captain  Thomas).  Chronological  History  of  the  West  In- 
dies.    (3  V.    London,  1827.) 

Sparks  (Editor.)  Writings  of  Oeorge  ^Washington,  (12  v.  Boston, 
1855.) 

Trumbull  (Colonel).    Reminiscences.    (New  Haven,  1841.) 

Turner  (F.  J).  Character  and  Influence  of  the  Indian  Trade  in 
Wisconsin.  (Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies.  Ninth  Series 
XI-XII.) 


562  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   WISCONSIN. 

Tracts  and  Pamphlets,  Colonial  and  Political.    [The  following  are  of 
special  importance  in  this  connection.] 

A  Letter  Addressed  to  Two  Oreat  Men,  on  the  Prospects  of 
Peace;  and  on  the  Terms  Necessary  to  he  Insisted  Upon  inthe 
Negotiation.  (London,  1760.  2d  edition.)  [Anonymous.  Attrib- 
uted by  Sparks  to  Earl  of  Bute.] 

Pemarks  on  the  Letter  addressed  to  two  Oreat  Men,  In  a  letter 
to  the  Author  of  that  Piece.  (London,  1760.)  [Anonymous. 
Attributed  sometimes  to  Edmund  or  to  William  Burke.] 

The  Interest  of  Oreat  Britain  Considered  with  regard  to  her 
Colonies^  and  the  acquisition  of  Canada  and  Oaudaloupe. 
(London,  1760.)    [Anonymous.     Attributed  by  Sparks  to  Franklin.] 

An  examination  of  the  Commercial  Principals  of  the  late  nego- 
tiation hetiveen  Great  Britain  and  France  in  1761.  (London, 
1762.)    [Anonymous.     Attributed  to  Edmund  Burke.] 

A  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Bute  on  the  Preliminaries  of  Peace. 
From  neither  a  noble  lord,  a  candid  Member  of  Parliament,  or 
an  impartial  Briton,  but  an  Englishman.  (London,  1762.) 
[Anonymous.] 

A  full  and  free  Inquirg  into  the  Merits  of  the  peace;  with  some 
strictures  on  the  Spirit  of  Party.    (London,  1765.)    [Anonymous.] 

Observations  uj)on  the  Repoi't  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
against  the  Grenada  Laws.  (W.  Flexney,  London,  1770.) 
[Anonymous.] 

History  and  Policy  of  the  Quebec  Act  Asserted  and  Provid.  By 
William  Knox.    (London,  1774.) 

Letter  to  the  Earl  of  Chatham  on  the  Quebec  Bill.    By  Sir  Wil- 
liam Meredith.     (London,  1774.) 
The  Bights  of  Great  Britain  Asserted   Against    the   Claims  of 
America.    By  Sir  John  Dalyrymple.    (London,  1776.) 

Answer  to  Sir  William  Meredith^ s  Letter  to  the  Earl  of  Chatham. 
[Anonymous.]    (London,  1774.) 

An  appeal  to  the  Public;  stating  and  considering  the  objections  to 
the  Quebec  Bill.    [Anonymous.]    (2nd  Edition,  London,  1774.) 
Walpole    (Horace).     Letters.     Edited  by  Peter  Cunningham.     (9  v. 

London,  1861.) 
WiNSOB  (Justin.)  The  Mississippi  Basin.  (Boston  and  New  York,  1895.) 


